Hidden power law patterns in the top European football leagues

Sergio Da Silva, Raul Matsushita and Eliza Silveira

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 2013, vol. 392, issue 21, 5376-5386

Abstract: Because sports are stylized combat, sports may follow power laws similar to those found for wars, individual clashes, and acts of terrorism. We show this fact for football (soccer) by adjusting power laws that show a close relationship between rank and points won by the clubs participating in the latest seasons of the top fifteen European football leagues. In addition, we use Shannon entropy for gauging league competitive balance. As a result, we are able to rank the leagues according to competitiveness.

Keywords: Power laws; Wars; Sports; Terrorism; Football; Soccer (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:392:y:2013:i:21:p:5376-5386

DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2013.07.008

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