Economics, Uncertainty and European Football: Trends in Competitive Balance

This book provides a complete picture of the development of competitive balance in the major European football countries over an extended period of time, along with some policy prescriptions for the governance of the European football market.

It presents three new indices which show that European football competitions become less exciting over time. It is also shown that the lower the average number of goals per match, the more imperfect the referee and the stronger the home and away (dis)advantage, the higher the level of competitive balance will be. In the final chapter it is argued that to safeguard the competitive balance and the longstanding traditions of European football, a decommercialization of football is required. Using standard welfare economic theory, the author shows that free-of-charge public broadcasting is the preferred policy.

This book is highly relevant for sports economists, higher vocational and academic students in sports studies and for policymakers in football governing bodies and competition policy agencies.

Loek Groot, Associate Professor of Public Sector Economics, Utrecht School of Economics, Utrecht University, The Netherlands