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on Sports and Economics |
| By: | Budzinski, Oliver |
| Abstract: | Commercial sports belong to the biggest entertainment industries in the world and, at the same time, are regularly raising antitrust concerns. This is partly due to the omnipresence of powerful market-internal regulators. These sport governing bodies set, implement, and enforce the rules and additionally engage in commercial activities. In a series of four judgments within less than a year, the European Court of Justice found (potential) antitrust violations in cases of deterring market entry, distorting competition, and exploiting players. This contribution adds economic comments to the predominantly legal literature on these judgements. It concludes that despite important steps in the right direction, more antitrust enforcement is necessary to protect competition in this unique entertainment industry vis-à-vis the presence of market-internal, private regulators. Next to limiting their scope (where the court provided progress), also the incentives for anticompetitive conduct must be addressed. |
| Keywords: | sport markets, sport governance, competition policy, antitrust, sports associations, institutions, market-internal regulators, European Court of Justice, competition economics, sports economics |
| JEL: | K21 L40 L50 L83 Z20 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:tuiedp:335047 |
| By: | Budzinski, Oliver; Kunz-Kaltenhäuser, Philipp |
| Abstract: | The so-called 50plus1-rule in German football is a controversially discussed institution that regulates the investment behavior of professional football teams. This paper provides an empirical analysis of its effects. We gathered panel data on 47 teams in the German Major League Football ("Erste Bundesliga") from the seasons 1989/90 until 2018/2019. This paper applies a Difference-in-Differences approach to examine investment behavior in budgets, as well as sporting success between impacted competitors and those exempted from the rule. Our results do not suggest any equalizing properties of the regulation. By contrast, we find anticompetitive effects and distorting properties of the current regulation. |
| Keywords: | 50plus1-rule, football, sports economics, financial regulation, investment, sport finance, soccer, competition economics, sports antitrust |
| JEL: | Z23 Z21 Z2 J83 L11 L50 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:tuiedp:335039 |
| By: | Christopher L. Vasquez (University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, TX, USA) |
| Abstract: | The U.S. youth sports economy is estimated at $40 billion in annual family spending. Based on U.S. Census population estimates, Texas accounts for approximately 9% of that spending, equal to roughly $3.7 billion share of the youth sports market. Within this market, youth soccer in Texas is rapidly growing, evidenced by the MLS NEXT program’s footprint with nine homegrown clubs across the state, the Dallas Cup’s $40 million annual economic impact, and recent facility investments and partnerships such as Garland’s $70 million soccer complex. U.S. soccer families can expect to spend anywhere from $1, 000 to $10, 000 per child annually, making youth soccer a marker of cultural capital among middle and upper middle-class households. This case study compares the soccer ecosystems of Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio, mapping regionally distinct and adaptive development models. |
| Keywords: | Youth Sports Economy, Soccer Development, Texas Sport Industry, Texas Economic Impact |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:smo:raiswp:0602 |
| By: | Gustavo Berganti\~nos; Juan D. Moreno-Ternero |
| Abstract: | Sports are one of the most significant products of the entertainment industry, accounting for a large portion of all television (and even platform) viewing. Consequently, the sale of broadcasting and media rights is the most important source of revenue for professional sports clubs. We survey the economic literature dealing with this issue, with a special emphasis on the crucial problem that arises with the allocation of revenues when they are raised from the collective sale of broadcasting rights. |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2601.02039 |
| By: | Krishna Sharma; Pritam Basnet |
| Abstract: | How do evaluation systems compress multidimensional performance information into summary ratings? Using expert assessments of 9, 669 professional soccer players on 28 attributes, we characterize the dimensional structure of evaluation outputs. The first principal component explains 40.6% of attribute variance, indicating a strong general factor, but formal noise discrimination procedures retain four components and bootstrap resampling confirms that this structure is highly stable. Internal consistency is high without evidence of redundancy. In out of sample prediction of expert overall ratings, a comprehensive model using the full attribute set substantially outperforms a single-factor summary (cross-validated R squared = 0.814). Overall, performance evaluations exhibit moderate information compression; they combine shared variance with stable residual dimensions that are economically meaningful for evaluation outcomes, with direct implications for the design of measurement systems. |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2601.10862 |
| By: | Antoine Rogier (UPHF - Université Polytechnique Hauts-de-France, LARSH - Laboratoire de Recherche Sociétés & Humanités - UPHF - Université Polytechnique Hauts-de-France - INSA Hauts-De-France - INSA Institut National des Sciences Appliquées Hauts-de-France - INSA - Institut National des Sciences Appliquées, CRISS - Centre de Recherche Interdisciplinaire en Sciences de la Société - UPHF - Université Polytechnique Hauts-de-France) |
| Abstract: | Au cours de ces dernières années, la France et la région Hauts-de-France ont organisé plusieurs événements sportifs majeurs ou méga-événements. La finale de la Coupe Davis, des matchs de l'Euro 2016, de la Coupe du Monde de Rugby 2023 ou encore des épreuves de basketball et de handball pour les Jeux Olympiques de Paris 2024. L'objectif de la thèse sera de démontrer, par des régressions, l'influence des méga-événements sur la pratique sportive et le tourisme local et son incidence économique par le concept théorique du « Tourism Led Growth Hypothesis ». Pour cela, une étude sera faite à l'échelle de la région et à l'échelle internationale sur la base d'un modèle gravitaire. Le premier étudiera l'influence des Jeux Olympiques sur l'arrivée de visiteurs provenant des différentes régions françaises, par le biais de différents facteurs propres au modèle gravitaire en plus de facteurs spécifiques aux régions (liens historiques notamment, PIB, population). Le second sera un modèle montrant les impacts des grands événements sportifs dans différents pays hôtes, avec pour objectif de déterminer et de comparer l'impact de ces événements dans ces destinations. |
| Keywords: | Tourism-Led Growth Hypothesis, Econométrie, Economie du tourisme, Méga-événements, Présentation de thèse |
| Date: | 2025–02–27 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05361675 |