Contents for IJSF Issue 9:1
| Entire issue of IJSF 9:1 Authors: Harry Arne Solberg, Ingar Mehus, Wladimir Andreff, Martin B. Schmidt, Paulo Reis Mourao, Ángel Barajas and Plácido Rodríguez, |
| Abstract:This is the entire issue in PDF format that you can download |
| The Challenge of Attracting Football Fans to Stadia?, pp. 3-19 Authors: Harry Arne Solberg and Ingar Mehus |
| Abstract:This article, which is based on an empirical survey of Norwegian football fans, illustrates that frequent viewership of football on TV can make it difficult to maintain attendance levels at the stadium. Fans of clubs that were featured the most often on free-to-air TV channels attended fewer matches than others. Hence, regulations on televised football might be necessary to maintain attendance levels. Fans that had strong preferences for foreign football attended less frequently. This represents a challenge for football clubs in smaller nations, such as Norway, for example, since they are unable to regulate televised matches featuring foreign leagues. Identification with the club was demonstrated to be the most effective instrument in maintaining attendance levels. As a result, a strategy aimed at strengthening the bonds between fans and clubs may be beneficial in the long run. No difference was measured between those who attended matches often and those who attended less frequently regarding the emphasis they placed on the uncertainty of outcome. |
| Building Blocks for a Disequilibrium Model of a European Team Sports League, pp. 20-38 Authors: Wladimir Andreff |
| Abstract:The paper presents two building blocks for elaborating on a disequilibrium economics model that fits with empirical evidence of a European team sport (soccer) league where teams are win-maximizing and operate under a soft budget constraint. Going beyond the standard equilibrium model justifies the introduction of price rigidity, heterogeneous talent units, and a differentiated economic behavior of clubs’ fans as compared to TV viewers. A European soccer league appears to be an economic regime with repressed inflation, characterized by a double excess demand on both labor and product markets. Step by step, the disequilibrium model is enriched with labor market segmentation between superstars and journeymen players, then a market for televised sport differentiating between free-to-air and pay-per-view TV channels. |
| A Century of Player Movement in Major League Baseball, pp. 39-52 Authors: Martin B. Schmidt |
| Abstract:The present paper examines aggregate player movement in Major League Baseball over the majority of the 20th century. Major League Baseball has been subject to numerous exogenous shocks across the period. For example, it has been subject to competition during the mid-1910s with the introduction of the Federal League. It has also changed its own rules such as racial integration, free agency, and revenue sharing. In order to examine the impact that these shocks have on player movement we examine movement over three dimensions: total players, total at-bats, and total innings. In the end we find that free agency, racial integration, and revenue sharing increased player movement. |
| When a Rider Falls—A Discussion of the Economic Costs and Determinants for a Cyclist’s Withdrawal, pp. 53-72 Authors: Paulo Reis Mourao |
| Abstract:Although it is not generally applauded, withdrawing from competition is sometimes the best available option. However, an individual withdrawal may generate external costs that affect people other than the withdrawing individual. As cycling finances increase worldwide, the losses that are incurred due to riders’ withdrawals assume a rising importance. Therefore, we test the determinants for professional riders’ withdrawals by using probit estimations on nine major races (Le Tour de France, La Vuelta, Il Giro, the Tour de Suisse, the Tour of Poland, the Tour de Picardie, Paris-Nice, Tirreno-Adriatico, and Critérium). Our results recognized that riders withdraw because of a combination of factors, such as individual circumstances (such as a rider’s age or a dense body mass index), each race’s orography and a low overall placement. These results indicate that teams that seek to minimize this source of losses have to manage riders’ expectations, rightly choose the races in which to participate and optimize the team members’ interactions with each other. |
| Spanish Football in Need of Financial Therapy: Cut Expenses and Inject Capital, pp. 73-90 Authors: Ángel Barajas and Plácido Rodríguez |
| Abstract:European football in general and Spanish football in particular is experiencing huge financial difficulties. This paper analyzes Spanish clubs during the period from 2007 until 2011, using Altman’s models to classify clubs according to their Z-score values. Through these models, the determinants of the clubs’ poor financial situation are identified. The evidence suggests that Spanish football is in very poor financial condition. To improve its situation what is required is a substantial injection of capital funding through issuing shares or asking for substantial contributions from members, increasing revenues, reducing wages and salaries, and working to reduce current liabilities. |
