Money Talks: Team Variables and Player Positions that Most Influence the Market Value of Professional Male Footballers in Europe

Jose Luis Felipe, Alvaro Fernandez-Luna, Pablo Burillo, Luis Eduardo de la Riva, Javier Sanchez-Sanchez and Jorge Garcia-Unanue
Additional contact information
Jose Luis Felipe: School of Sports Sciences, Universidad Europea de Madrid, Calle Tajo S/N, 28670 Villaviciosa de Odón, Madrid, Spain
Alvaro Fernandez-Luna: School of Sports Sciences, Universidad Europea de Madrid, Calle Tajo S/N, 28670 Villaviciosa de Odón, Madrid, Spain
Pablo Burillo: School of Sports Sciences, Universidad Europea de Madrid, Calle Tajo S/N, 28670 Villaviciosa de Odón, Madrid, Spain
Luis Eduardo de la Riva: School of Sports Sciences, Universidad Europea de Madrid, Calle Tajo S/N, 28670 Villaviciosa de Odón, Madrid, Spain
Javier Sanchez-Sanchez: School of Sports Sciences, Universidad Europea de Madrid, Calle Tajo S/N, 28670 Villaviciosa de Odón, Madrid, Spain
Jorge Garcia-Unanue: IGOID Research Group, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Campus Antigua Fábrica de Armas, 45071 Toledo, Spain

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 9, 1-8

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to analyse different interactions of the variables (age, position, or quality of the team and the league) and the crowdsourcing Transfermarkt values of male players in the top European leagues. All players (n = 2259) in the five most highly valued European leagues—Spain, England, Italy, France, and Germany—from the 2017/2018 season were included in this study. Data were retrieved from the open-source football database (Transfermarkt). The present economic value (VPRESENT) and maximum economic value (VMAX) of all players with professional contracts were registered. Regression analysis evidenced a significant influence of the level of the team, the birth month, the league, the playing position and the age of the player on mean and maximum economic value ( p < 0.05). This analysis confirms that the players participating in the UEFA Champions League, Premier League teams, playing as attacking midfielders, and born in the first quarter of the year are the most economically valued in terms of both current value (R2 of 0.33) and maximal value (R2 of 0.36). Therefore, international football entities must take into account the financial balance between competitions—and not only at the domestic level, as the attractiveness and balance of European competitions may be directly affected.

Keywords: elite football; economic value; playing position; competitive level (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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