Operations Research Transforms the Scheduling of Chilean Soccer Leagues and South American World Cup Qualifiers

Fernando Alarcón (), Guillermo Durán (), Mario Guajardo (), Jaime Miranda (), Hugo Muñoz (), Luis Ramírez (), Mario Ramírez (), Denis Sauré (), Matías Siebert (), Sebastián Souyris (), Andrés Weintraub (), Rodrigo Wolf-Yadlin () and Gonzalo Zamorano ()
Additional contact information
Fernando Alarcón: Industrial Engineering Department, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile
Guillermo Durán: Industrial Engineering Department, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile, Mathematics Department and Calculus Institute, FCEN, University of Buenos Aires; National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
Mario Guajardo: Department of Business and Management Science, NHH Norwegian School of Economics, Bergen, Norway 5045
Jaime Miranda: Department of Management Control and Information Systems, School of Economics and Business, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile
Hugo Muñoz: Chilean Professional Soccer Association (ANFP), Santiago, Chile
Luis Ramírez: Chilean Professional Soccer Association (ANFP), Santiago, Chile
Mario Ramírez: Canal del Fútbol (CDF), Santiago, Chile
Denis Sauré: Industrial Engineering Department, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile
Matías Siebert: H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332
Sebastián Souyris: McCombs School of Business, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712
Andrés Weintraub: Industrial Engineering Department, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile
Rodrigo Wolf-Yadlin: Industrial Engineering Department, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile
Gonzalo Zamorano: Industrial Engineering Department, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile

Interfaces, 2017, vol. 47, issue 1, 52-69

Abstract: For the past 12 years, the Chilean Professional Soccer Association (ANFP) has applied operations research (OR) techniques to schedule soccer leagues in Chile. Using integer programming-based methods, the ANFP decides which matches are played in each round, taking into account various objectives, such as holding down costs and ensuring engaging tournaments for the fans. It has scheduled more than 50 tournaments using this approach, resulting in an estimated direct economic impact of about $59 million, including reductions in television broadcaster operating costs, growth in soccer pay-television subscriptions, increased ticket revenue, and lower travel costs for the teams. This application of OR has also had significant noneconomic impacts. First, the incorporation of team requirements and various sporting criteria has improved process transparency and schedule fairness, increasing fans’ interest in local professional tournaments; second, because of the high portability of these techniques, they have been used successfully to schedule sports leagues in other countries (examples include volleyball and basketball in Argentina, and the South American qualifiers for the 2018 Soccer World Cup). Furthermore, the models and methods used in this scheduling application have been disseminated widely, helping to promote OR as an effective tool for addressing practical problems. Our outreach activities have reached thousands of high school and university students in four countries and a more general audience of millions of television viewers and Internet users.

Keywords: sports analytics; scheduling; integer programming; soccer (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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