scholarly journals FINANCIAL AND ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL INDUSTRY: TRENDS ANALYSIS AND DEVELOPMENT PROSPECTS

Author(s):  
V. Reikin

The purpose of the study is the analysis of financial and economic aspects and assessment of current trends and prospects for the development of professional football industry as an independent academic field. In this article the following general scientific and applied methods were used: analysis and comparison — to determine the main trends in the development of top professional football clubs in the context of globalization; generalization — to establish the influence of institutional factors on the economic results of football clubs activity; expert assessments — to determine the market value of players in the global transfer market; abstract and logical methods — for theoretical generalization of the obtained results, forecasting the prospects for the development of European professional football and formulating conclusions of the study.  The article deals with the analysis of financial and economic results of  European football top clubs functioning in the pre-crisis period (before COVID-19). The author emphasizes the dualistic origins of modern professional football, which combines sports and commercial components. It is analyzed the impact of «Bosman case» and the rules of «financial fair play» on the professional football industry development in the context of globalization. The sources and structure of football top clubs income are also analyzed. The main focus is on European football, where current trends are most clearly manifested. The source of information was the annual reports of audit firms, specialized analytical laboratories and FIFA data. As a result of globalization processes, the author predicts the creation of full-fledged «SuperLeague» championship of top clubs with the greatest financial opportunities, as well as the appearence of polycentrism phenomenon in the world football industry. The forecast scenarios of  football industry perspectives, formulated by the author, to substantiate the financial and economic aspects of clubs and players transfer market functioning, can be used in practice to assess the potential and formulate strategies for professional football leagues and clubs.

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-57
Author(s):  
I. V. Solntsev

This research is aimed  to analyze the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on professional football clubs, identify the problems they face and propose strategic anti-crisis measures. The work is based on the analysis of the mapping study on measuring the economic impact of COVID-19 on the sport sector in the EU, provided by European Commission; analytical reports from Deloitte and KPMG containing empirical data on European football, academic research by foreign scientists examining the impact of the pandemic on the football industry. The study resulted in the author's strategic measures to improve the efficiency of football clubs in the face of restrictions caused by the spread of coronavirus, and a system of performance indicators (KPI), concerning the business developments during a pandemic. These results can be used in the strategic management of football clubs, as well as in the development strategies of federations, leagues and individual clubs, and can lead to an increase in the overall efficiency of their activities and the achievement of economic and social results. For the first time, the work carried out a comprehensive study of the consequences of the pandemic for the development of the football industry and offered the author’s view of solving current problems and finding new ways to develop the football business.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 8663
Author(s):  
Rudemarlyn Urdaneta ◽  
Juan C. Guevara-Pérez ◽  
Fernando Llena-Macarulla ◽  
José M. Moneva

This study reviews the impact of the Spanish Transparency Law (TL) 19/2013 and the Union of European Football Associations’ (UEFA) Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations, on the transparency and accountability of Spanish professional football clubs, and examines the influence of financial performance on the transparency of Spanish football clubs. The study uses a Panel Data methodology (FGLS) to compare the international transparency index for football clubs (INFUT) with the criteria of UEFA’s FFP as a measure of the social and financial performance, respectively, on a sample of 28 Spanish professional teams of first and second division during the periods of 2015, 2016, and 2019. The study reveals that the implementation of TL 19/2013 and UEFA’s FFP has improved the transparency and accountability of clubs. On the one hand, the TL has facilitated access to financial information, and, on the other, the FFP regulations have contributed to improving the balance and financial viability of the clubs. The study also reveals that financial performance directly influences the transparency of clubs.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karolina Nessel

PurposeThe goal of this research was to explore career patterns of senior marketing managers in the best European football clubs (SMMEFCs).Design/methodology/approachThe data came from the LinkedIn profiles of current and past SMMEFCs. Firstly, the optimal matching algorithm was used to determine clusters of pathways leading to a first SMMEFC position based on the main activity of the employing organisation. Secondly, these patterns were compared in terms of variables depicting the career paths, clubs and managers. Finally, the evolution of the post-SMMEFC careers was analysed.FindingsPeople in their first SMMEFC positions are mainly male with a university degree in business and marketing, and with a predominantly functional experience in marketing. There are five ways to become an SMMEFC: through business (40% of the sample), football (32%), other sports (11%), marketing and communication (11%), and media (6%). As the majority of SMMEFCs come to their positions from outside the sporting world, the specificity of the football industry is not a serious obstacle. Instead, the careers are bounded by functional marketing experience. Among the individual sequences leading to a first SMMEFC position, only around half of the football cluster may be considered traditional careers. Football, and sports in general, seem attractive for post-SMMEFC career development for the majority of managers coming from all pathways.Originality/valueThe study is the first one to quantify career patterns in professional sports management. It provides new insights about marketing careers and practice in European club football.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (20) ◽  
pp. 8638
Author(s):  
Hyunwoong Pyun ◽  
Jeeyoon Kim ◽  
Torsten Schlesinger ◽  
Luca Matto

Hosting sport events is costly, but the positive impact of hosting sport events has not been studied well. We consider the promotion of physical activity, known as the trickle-down effect, to be a new dimension of this kind of impact. Using exogenous variations in promotion and relegation in the Bundesliga 1, we test the effect of the presence of a Bundesliga 1 club on local non-profit football club membership. Using German city-level annual non-profit sport club membership data from the metropolitan Rhine-Ruhr, we group cities with experience of either promotion or relegation as treatment cities and other cities as the comparison group. Difference-in-difference analyses show that promotion (using a strict definition of promotion) of local professional football clubs increases non-profit football club membership by 14% while relegation does not affect membership. The presence of Bundesliga 1 clubs in a city increases non-profit football club membership by 11%. Falsification tests support the idea that the impact of promotion on membership results in a net increase in membership.


2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oleg V. Litvishko ◽  
Roman R. Veynberg

Purpose of the study.The introduction of financial discipline rules by the Union of European Football Associations started a new stage in the development of the football industry. According to the UEFA statistical report in 2017, football clubs for the first time reported a total profit of more than 600 million Euros, while a few years earlier the total losses of clubs representing the highest European football divisions were 1.7 billion Euros. This fact indicates a possible change in the investment attractiveness of sports clubs. The purpose of this study is to assess the presence of the investment potential of the football industry as a possible object of capital investment.Materials and methods.The study analyzed the data obtained from the official statistical sources, including a comparative UEFA report for 2017 on the licensing of clubs “Landscape of European Club Football”, normative legal acts regulating public relations in the field of professional sports, publishing in periodicals and the Internet, illustrating the practice and problems of professional sports development, as well as statistical data from the portals www.stoxx. com and www.investing.com. The study applies such methods of scientific cognition as a method of statistical and economic analysis, comparison, analogies, synthesis, as well as the method of measuring and aggregating data, the graphical and tabular method.Results of the research.When considering the shares of professional sports clubs as objects of capital investment, it is advisable for investors to pay attention to the functional type of assets that such organizations possess and the degree of diversification of their activities. The structure of non-current assets and the share attributable to tangible assets - sports infrastructure and other objects, is an important factor affecting the specific risks inherent in the activities of sports subjects, which allows to compensate losses incurred as a result of not achieving the goal set for the team for the season due to revenues from other activities that affect the investment attractiveness of the club.Conclusion. Based on the results, we can draw the following conclusions. The football industry has significant revenue growth potential. The increase in the financial profitability of professional sports subjects is accompanied by a rise in the stock index quotes, which accumulates the shares of European public football clubs. The comparative analysis carried out in the research indicates the attractiveness of these financial instruments as an investment object. However, such investments are characterized by a high degree of risk due to the specificity inherent in the professional sports industry. From the total number of factors affecting the exchange rate fluctuations of football clubs' shares, one can single out the most significant indicators such as the outcome and significance of the match, the nature of the tournament, and the sports (physical) form of the team.


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 82
Author(s):  
José Francisco Navarro Picado

The purpose of this paper is to identify the impact of institutionalization, legitimacy, learning behaviors, and other organizational characteristics on the efforts made by sport clubs signing sponsorship contracts. An exploratory comparison of two professional football clubs, playing in the First Division, of Costa Rica and Chile was performed. Using a narrative methodology, the Costa Rican team was analyzed through observation during a two-year collaboration period, and the Chilean team was analyzed through in-depth interviews and an analysis of the historical literature. The analysis revealed that organizational behaviors impact the clubs’ amount of sponsorship contracts and multi-season contracts. It also revealed that institutionalization and legitimacy work as a first latter in the relationship, and that by themselves it should be considered a marketing tool. Additionally, it was observed that both learning behaviors and resource seeking strategies contribute to successfully sign sponsorship contracts, but a baseline level of legitimacy and institutionalization should exist. Drawing on Institutional Theory, Ecology, and Organizational Learning a clear role model was evidenced within the ecosystem of two professional football clubs, each on a different Latin American country. These behaviors, which up to our knowledge has never being analyzed before, yielded and sustained legitimacy, while showing a direct effect on sponsorship single-season and multi-season contracts.


2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (7) ◽  
pp. 421-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Ekstrand ◽  
Werner Krutsch ◽  
Armin Spreco ◽  
Wart van Zoest ◽  
Craig Roberts ◽  
...  

ObjectivesThe objective was to describe the typical duration of absence following the most common injury diagnoses in professional football.MethodsInjuries were registered by medical staff members of football clubs participating in the Union of European Football Association Elite Club Injury Study. Duration of absence due to an injury was defined by the number of days that passed between the date of the injury occurrence and the date when the medical team allowed the player to return to full participation. In total, 22 942 injuries registered during 494 team-seasons were included in the study.ResultsThe 31 most common injury diagnoses constituted a total of 78 % of all reported injuries. Most of these injuries were either mild (leading to a median absence of 7 days or less, 6440 cases = 42%) or moderate (median absence: 7–28 days, 56% = 8518 cases) while only few (2% = 311 cases) were severe (median absence of >28 days). The mean duration of absence from training and competition was significantly different (p < 0.05) between index injuries and re-injuries for six diagnoses (Achilles tendon pain, calf muscle injury, groin adductor pain, hamstring muscle injuries and quadriceps muscle injury) with longer absence following re-injuries for all six diagnosesConclusionsThe majority of all time loss due to injuries in professional football stems from injuries with an individual absence of up to 4 weeks. This article can provide guidelines for expected time away from training and competition for the most common injury types as well as for its realistic range.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Raimo ◽  
Filippo Vitolla ◽  
Giuseppe Nicolò ◽  
Paolo Tartaglia Polcini

Purpose The latest developments in the football industry, the commodification of sport, the excessive focus on profitability and the limited attention to social and environmental aspects have caused a legitimation crisis for football clubs. According to the legitimacy theory, the corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure represents a tool capable of allowing the construction or repair of legitimacy. This study, in line with this theory, aims to analyse the amount of CSR disclosure provided by football clubs and the determinants, related to visibility, of the level of information provided. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a manual content analysis on the corporate websites of the 80 football clubs that qualified for the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League group stages for the 2019–2020 year to measure the level of CSR disclosure and subsequently a regression analysis to examine the impact of visibility on the amount of information provided. Findings Results reveal that football clubs still disclose relatively little information about sustainability issues, and that sports performance visibility, human capital visibility and social media visibility positively affect the amount of information that football clubs disclose. Originality/value This study extends the horizons of CSR disclosure to the football industry which is still little explored in the academic literature. Furthermore, it extends the scope of legitimacy theory, showing how CSR disclosure can be a means for football clubs to obtain or repair legitimacy. Furthermore, this study extends the list of determinants of the level of CSR disclosure, showing that visibility can influence the amount of CSR information.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Filippo Vitolla ◽  
Nicola Raimo ◽  
Michele Rubino ◽  
Antonello Garzoni

Purpose The football industry presents a unique setting for intellectual capital analysis. This study aims to investigate the online intellectual capital disclosure level of top football clubs and to analyse the impact of some explanatory factors on the level of information provided. Design/methodology/approach The authors use manual content analysis of the websites to measure intellectual capital disclosure levels along with a regression analysis on a sample of the 80 football clubs that qualified for the group stages of the 2019–20 UEFA Champions and Europa League. Findings Empirical results reveal that football clubs disclose a limited amount of information regarding intangibles on their websites. In addition, they show that sports performance, technical market value and social media visibility have a positive effect on the disclosure level. Originality/value This study extends the horizon of intellectual capital disclosure to a sector (football) that is currently under-explored and broadens the list of antecedents of the intellectual capital disclosure level.


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