The (monetary) value of competitive balance for sport consumers: A stated preferences approach to European professional football

Tim Pawlowski and Oliver Budzinski

No 77, Ilmenau Economics Discussion Papers from Ilmenau University of Technology, Institute of Economics

Abstract: Ever since the pioneering work of Rottenberg (1956) and Neale (1964), the uncertainty of outcome hypothesis (UOH) has played a major role in the economic analysis of professional sport leagues. However, decades f empirical research have not been successful in establishing clear evidence for the importance of competitive balance (CB) for attendance or TV viewers in European professional football. In order to find possible reasons for the gap between the UOH and (the lack of) its empirical validation, our paper adopts a stated preference approach focused on the fans' perception of CB and its relevance in three European professional football leagues. The results indicate that a tipping point/threshold value of CB exists and that crossing this threshold can lead to massive demand eactions. However, since the threshold has not been reached in the leagues included in the sample, the paper provides a possible explanation for the above mentioned gap.

Keywords: Willingness-to-pay; Competitive balance; Uncertainty of outcome hypothesis; European Football (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D12 L83 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-spo
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Related works:
Journal Article: The Monetary Value of Competitive Balance for Sport Consumers: A Stated Preference Approach to European Professional Football (2013)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:tuiedp:77

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