Research objectivesMulti-club ownership (MCO) is often assumed to enhance talent mobility and squad depth, but its impact on on-field success remains under-researched. The current study investigated whether MCO improves affiliated clubs' sporting outcomes and explored how performance effects vary across ownership models, network structures, and a club's role within its MCO network.Research methodsWe used a difference-in-differences method to analyze a new panel dataset comprising 2,060 club-season observations from 116 MCO-affiliated professional football clubs and 232 independently owned control clubs selected via stratified nearest-neighbor matching. The data analyzed spanned 31 seasons from 1993/1994 to 2023/2024 and covered 348 professional clubs in 46 national leagues in major football markets across six regions.Results and findingsMCO affiliation was not associated with systematic improvements in a club's league performance. This null result holds across most ownership models (private equity vs. football groups), network structures (vertical vs. horizontal), and hierarchical roles within MCO networks (flagship vs. feeder).ImplicationsOur findings challenge the prevailing narrative that MCO automatically leads to performance benefits, as ownership type alone does not seem to be a key factor in sporting success. Hence, MCO networks may not necessarily offer a competitive advantage for clubs in the short to medium term, and independently owned clubs could be just as well-positioned to succeed while avoiding threats to their autonomy or identity.

Providing and receiving feedback is a common practice. Yet, feedback has been shown to both enhance and, at times, impair subsequent performance (Kluger & DeNisi, 1996). A commonly overlooked aspect is that performance depends not only on ability but also on uncontrollable factors, commonly referred to as luck. When evaluations fail to disentangle the two, feedback can become over- or under-rewarding. This also affects result interpretation, since individuals typically credit themselves for success but blame bad luck for failure—a phenomenon known as the self-attribution bias (Miller & Ross, 1975). Despite its relevance, empirical evidence on how reactions to luck-distorted feedback affect subsequent performance remains scarce, largely due to difficulties in measuring true performance and noisy feedback in real-incentive settings. We address this challenge using 8,234 team-match observations from elite European football as a natural laboratory. Football is a low-scoring sport characterized by substantial randomness, meaning that results often fail to reflect actual on-field performance. To separate skill from luck, we use Expected Goals (xG), which estimate the scoring probability of each shot based on detailed characteristics. Because shots occur more frequently than goals, xG provides a less noisy and more accurate proxy for underlying performance (Brechot & Flepp, 2020). We exploit the halftime scoreline as a salient and easily interpretable feedback signal and define the Feedback–Performance Discrepancy (FPD) as the difference between the halftime scoreline and the xG score. After controlling for team ability and contextual factors, FPD captures the exogenous, luck-driven component of feedback. To test behavioral reactions, we estimate OLS regressions with match-clustered standard errors and conduct a rich set of robustness checks, including multiple fixed-effects specifications. Our findings consistently show that teams benefiting from good luck at halftime perform significantly worse in the second half, while unlucky teams improve. These patterns are evident in second-half xG scores (illustrated in Figure 1), pass accuracy, and long-ball accuracy. We interpret these results as evidence that teams benefiting from good fortune underestimate the role of luck—echoing the self-attribution bias—and consequently perform worse, consistent with previous evidence that overconfidence impairs decision-making. Additional moderation analyses support this interpretation. Conversely, we interpret the improvement of unlucky teams as effort mobilization in response to under-rewarding feedback. The results have implications beyond sports, suggesting that an effective feedback strategy is to adopt a rigorous and constructively critical approach in intermediate evaluations—avoiding excessive praise and overconfidence—while ensuring that final evaluations fairly reward performance. This combination fosters motivation and preserves fairness in recognition. References Brechot, M., & Flepp, R. (2020). Dealing with randomness in match outcomes: How to rethink performance evaluation in European club football using expected goals. Journal of Sports Economics, 21(4), 335–362. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527002519897962 Kluger, A. N., & DeNisi, A. (1996). The effects of feedback interventions on performance: A historical review, a meta-analysis, and a preliminary feedback intervention theory. Psychological Bulletin, 119(2), 254–284. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.119.2.254 Miller, D. T., & Ross, M. (1975). Self-serving biases in the attribution of causality: Fact or fiction? Psychological Bulletin, 82(2), 213–225. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0076486

Switzerland's most prominent professional sports leagues are ice hockey's Swiss National League and football's Swiss Super League. Despite these leagues' importance within Swiss sport, their economic and regulatory landscapes have never been examined in detail. The present study addressed this research gap by comparing five key aspects of the two leagues: local potential, market environment, managerial expertise, marketing expertise, and regulatory oversight by governing bodies. Data analysis covering six seasons between 2014 and 2019 showed that the two leagues have adopted different regulatory paths within a form of passive competition in a relatively small country. The present study further contributes to the literature on these issues by proposing a general framework for comparing the regulation of professional sports in countries with two dominant professional team sports.

This paper investigates how performance in high- vs. low-pressure situations affects employee compensation. Leveraging sports as a natural laboratory, we analyze National Basketball Association (NBA) play-by-play data from 2004 to 2017 in combination with seasonal player salaries, using “clutch time”—the closing minutes during a game when the outcome is at stake and performance pressure is at its peak—as an objective criterion of performance pressure. Our regression analysis provides evidence of a salary premium for players who can excel under pressure. Whereas lower-paid players’ performance does not differ much by pressure level, higher-paid players show exceptionally strong performance during critical phases of a game. We demonstrate that the ability to excel under pressure is greatly valued in professional basketball, raising the question of whether this ability is compensated not only in other sports but also in other sectors of the labor market.

Sustainability has become a key concern of major sports events. Yet, the field lacks both a consistent definition and a conceptual model for sustainable major events. This hampers the emergence of a shared theoretical understanding of sustainability as an epistemic object and the building of a practical framework to guide the sector towards greater sustainability. This paper mobilises a three-wave Delphi study with 55 experts to construct a definition of a sustainable major sports event. Through the three Delphi waves, the paper specifies a concentric ‘discus model’ of sustainability with three spheres: environmental factors as a limiting condition on the outside, economics and governance as the foundation at the centre, and social wellbeing as the key goal in the middle. It identifies 18 dimensions (six in each sphere) to serve as a further operationalisation of the conceptual model into a future framework. The paper maps these 18 dimensions on the UN Sustainable Development Goals and suggests that the discus model can serve as a basis for sports events to formulate a research-based sustainability strategy.

Mega-events like the Olympic Games and FIFA World Cups present significant financial and management risks for the public sector. This article investigates the key determinants of revenues, costs, and profitability for these events to better understand and anticipate these challenges. Through a longitudinal analysis of 43 events held between 1964 and 2018, the study reveals a positive correlation between a host country's gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and both the revenues and costs of these mega-events. While GDP is not correlated with profitability, higher levels of economic freedom are associated with greater profitability, indicating that countries with lower levels of government intervention tend to achieve better financial outcomes, regardless of their overall wealth. Stakeholders, ranging from event rights-holders and international federations to local organizers and policymakers, can benefit from these findings to make well-informed decisions in planning and executing future mega-events.

Although managers are frequently replaced, the effects of managerial replacement on individual employee performance remain largely unexplored. By integrating Human Capital Theory (HCT) and Signaling Theory (ST) to examine managerial replacement, we argue that their seemingly opposing implications-HCT is typically associated with a negative effect on performance, while ST is linked with positive outcomes-are, in fact, compatible. We propose that this relationship stems from two distinct facets of employee performance: work quality and work effort. We investigate these effects by analyzing data from the professional soccer industry. Our two-stage least squares instrumental variable regressions confirm the effects derived from our theory integration. First, managerial replacement decreases employee work quality because new managers assign tasks less efficiently. Second, managerial replacement increases employee work effort because employees signal their skills to the new manager. To avoid the negative consequences of managerial replacement without diminishing the positive ones, organizations may consider selecting new managers through internal recruitment, as this approach can efficiently allocate tasks and ideally maintain a sufficient distance from employees to motivate them effectively. We contribute to the succession literature by shifting the focus from the organizational to the individual level, thus offering a plausible explanation for inconsistent findings in prior research.

The current study used the example of mixed martial arts to explore how empathetic vicarious pain and everyday vicarious sadism influence viewing intentions in violent sports in addition to service quality and perceived value. Structural equation modeling of data from 797 respondents revealed that service quality (a formative construct comprising athletic performance, outcome uncertainty, violence, and excitement) predicted future intentions. Violence and excitement contributed most strongly to perceived service quality, with athletic performance and outcome uncertainty as supporting factors. Everyday vicarious sadism had a positive influence on future viewing intentions but a slight negative impact on satisfaction, underscoring its complex role in viewers’ motivations. Empathetic vicarious pain is weakly linked to lower viewing intentions. Necessary Condition Analysis showed that service quality was the only necessary condition for viewing intentions, underscoring its importance in sustaining spectator engagement. These findings contribute to consumer behavior research by demonstrating the impact of violence on service quality and by highlighting the roles of empathetic vicarious pain and everyday vicarious sadism in shaping viewers’ engagement with violent sports.

This paper investigates the impact of local government financial support on strategic decision-making and resource allocation in stadium construction and renovation. Through 14 semi-structured interviews with stakeholders involved in developing eight football stadiums for the 2016 UEFA Euro in France, the study identifies an inverse relationship between public support and the level of resources and competencies invested by club management in these projects. Clubs receiving more substantial public support generally invest less in stadium resources and competencies. The findings indicate that public financial assistance may adversely affect football club management's strategic decisions and resource allocation, especially concerning stadium assets. This research demonstrates that public support, fostering soft budget constraints, can curtail a club manager's engagement in stadium projects. This study is the first to analyse how public funding for stadium projects impacts the resources and competencies that football clubs dedicate to their new stadiums.

Understanding why some sports clubs consistently outperform others despite similar financial resources remains a central question in sports economics. This paper develops a contest-theoretic model of a sports league in which clubs differ in both their financial capacity and their efficiency in transforming player talent into on-field performance. Each club chooses its optimal level of talent investment under either profit-maximizing or win-maximizing objectives. The model explicitly distinguishes between two types of heterogeneity-market size and efficiency, allowing us to study how these asymmetries jointly shape equilibrium talent demand, competitive balance, and welfare. The results reveal that profit-maximizing clubs may reduce talent investment when efficiency improves, while win-maximizing clubs respond in the opposite direction. Efficiency differences also affect large and small clubs asymmetrically, with small clubs often expanding investment under conditions in which large clubs contract. Welfare implications depend critically on league orientation: in profit-oriented leagues, welfare improves when small clubs are less efficient and large clubs are more efficient, whereas the opposite holds in win-oriented leagues. By integrating contest theory with the literature on club efficiency, the paper demonstrates that efficiency heterogeneity is not inherently detrimental. Under certain conditions, it can yield strategic advantages and even enhance league welfare, offering new insights for both academic research and league policy.

Research question Match day revenue is still an essential source of income for many professional sports clubs worldwide. This paper studies the determinants of ticket pricing in the English Premier League and examines whether and to what extent stadium goers pay a premium for sporting success and spending by clubs in the players’ labour market.Research methods We estimate regression models for the cheapest and most expensive tickets of clubs playing in the English Premier League for the five seasons between 2014/15 and 2018/19 inclusive.Results and findings Our study shows that ticket prices are driven by several variables including the opponent and local derbies. The impact of team performance is asymmetric affecting only the most expensive tickets. Capacity utilisation and total labour cost impact the prices of both types of tickets.Implications This research provides insights for both leagues and individual clubs. For example, the findings can be used as a benchmark to assess the magnitude of price increases that the market may be willing to bear. Additionally, clubs can explore the extent to which greater revenues can be extracted from different types of consumers.

This study investigates the presence and impact of customer-based racial discrimination in Europe's top five professional soccer leagues. While prior research in European sports has focused mainly on wages or nationalities rather than race, this paper employs a market test approach to assess the influence of racial preferences on stadium attendance. The study analyzes data from the 2008/09 to 2018/19 seasons of the European Big-5 soccer leagues and finds evidence of customer-based discrimination, which varies in degree and nature across the five countries and leagues. The research addresses a significant gap in the European sports economics literature, which has been extensively investigated in North American sports since the 1980s.

This article examines the complex regulatory framework governing Swiss professional football, focusing on the multifaceted interplay between economic, legal, political, and social regulations. By analyzing the Swiss Football League's strategic approaches to revenue sharing, financial sustainability, and club licensing, the study highlights the mechanisms that ensure competitive balance and financial health within the league. It also explores legal regulations around player transfers and contracts, emphasizing transparency and fairness in dealings within the sport. Furthermore, the article addresses the role of social regulation in leveraging football for community engagement and social inclusion. The integrated regulatory system, comprising both national and international guidelines, ensures the sport's integrity, competitiveness, and alignment with global standards. This comprehensive governance framework not only maintains the sport's appeal but also enhances its operational efficacy, contributing to the sustainable development of Swiss professional football.

This paper develops a contest theory model to study the effects of inaccurate valuations of player talent in team sports leagues. By examining strategic interactions between clubs of different sizes (small vs. large) and objectives (profit-vs. win-maximization), we uncover the consequences of over-and undervaluing player talent on talent demand, club profits, competitive balance, and social welfare. Our findings reveal that these effects are intricately linked to club characteristics. Contrary to conventional wisdom, we identify conditions under which talent overvaluation can provide strategic advantages. By highlighting the critical importance of accurate player valuation, this paper challenges prevailing norms and offers insights for enhancing club strategies and league policy frameworks, aiming to strengthen the economic sustainability and competitive balance of sports leagues.

IntroductionThe Coase Theorem posits that frictionless markets efficiently allocate scarce resources as long as property rights are fully specified. Our empirical study investigates how the initial allocation of labor-related property rights influences the allocative efficiency in labor markets for skilled workers within a highly competitive environment—professional basketball. Specifically, we compare two regimes: one where employers can trade workers to other employers without the worker's consent, and another where workers are free agents, able to negotiate and move freely without their employer's consent.MethodsWe utilize the NBA as a “laboratory” to conduct our analysis, constructing a unique panel dataset that includes 3,132 player-season observations spanning 17 regular seasons from 2003/04 to 2019/20. To address our research question, we employ linear panel regression models to analyze the data.Results and discussionThe findings reveal a decline in productivity among workers who transition to new employers as free agents, a phenomenon not observed among non-free agents. This observation suggests that allocative efficiency might be higher when workers are traded without their consent compared to when they exercise their autonomy as free agents. These findings highlight the significant impact that the initial distribution of labor-related property rights has on labor market efficiency, potentially challenging the assumptions of the Coase Theorem. However, the lack of a statistically significant difference in productivity changes between free agents and non-free agents moving to new employers prevents us from definitively rejecting the predictions of the Coase Theorem.

This paper tests for the existence and consequences of customer-based racial discrimination in Europe’s five largest professional soccer leagues. Most of the previous studies focusing on European sports, as opposed to North American sports, either used wage models to identify discrimination of e.g., black players or focused on nationality instead of ethnicity or race. This study employs a market test approach to empirically test whether racial preferences affect ticket demand. Using data from the European Big-5 soccer leagues between 2008/09 and 2018/19, the results of our regression models indicate evidence of customer-based discrimination in European soccer, moderated by the idiosyncratic circumstances in each of the five countries and their respective leagues - both in terms of racial as well as nationality-based discrimination. The study fills an important gap in the European sports management literature, as the lack of suitable data has for a long time impeded a thorough investigation of customer-based discrimination and its consequences in European sports – an area well researched in the North American context.

This paper develops a duopoly model for user-generated content (UGC) platforms, which compete for consumers and content producers in two-sided markets characterized by network externalities. Each platform has the option to invest in a content quality assurance (CQA) system and determine the level of advertising. Our model reveals that network effects are pivotal in shaping the platforms’ optimal strategies and user behavior, specifically in terms of single vs. multi-homing. We find that when network effects for producers are weak, consumers tend to engage in multi-homing while producers prefer single-homing. Conversely, strong network effects lead to the opposite behavior. Furthermore, our model demonstrates that user behavior and network effects dictate whether a platform is incentivized to incorporate advertisements and/or invest in CQA. Generally, weak network effects prompt a platform to invest in a CQA system, unless both consumers and producers engage in multi-homing. Our model’s results highlight the importance for platform companies to evaluate the extent of network effects on their platform in order to anticipate user behavior, which subsequently informs the optimal CQA and advertising strategy.

IntroductionWhile most of the available literature on competitive balance analyses its impact on ticket sales and TV audiences, less empirical research is available that examines the observable variation in competitive balance across leagues and over time. This paper studies the concentration of player talent and end-of-season league points to empirically assess whether leagues with a more equal distribution of player talent produce a more balanced competition than leagues with less equal distribution.MethodsThe longitudinal data we use to estimate our empirical model comes from professional soccer leagues in twelve Western European countries from 2005/06 thru 2020/21, yielding 5,299 club-season observations.ResultsOur empirical analysis indicates that talent concentration in a league significantly and positively impacts points concentration in that league. However, in specifications controlling for year, country, and division, this impact is only weakly significant or insignificant, suggesting that talent concentration does not significantly affect competitive balance in that league. Additionally, our findings demonstrate that the relationship between talent and points concentration does not vary considerably across the European leagues or over time.DiscussionOur results suggest that repeated participation in the UEFA Champions League, with its considerable monetary returns by (more or less) the same subset of teams, does not increase competitive imbalance in the respective national league. Thus, with relatively few additional regulatory interventions, the promotion and relegation system in the open European soccer leagues seems effective in ensuring a balanced competition.