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Do Teams Always Lose to Win? Performance Incentives and the Player Draft in the Australian Football League

Author

Listed:
  • Jeff Borland

    (University of Melbourne, jib@unimelb.edu.au)

  • Mark Chicu

    (Northwestern University)

  • Robert D. Macdonald

    (University of Melbourne)

Abstract

This article examines whether the player draft used since 1986 in the Australian Football League has caused clubs to tank; that is, to seek to lose matches to obtain improved draft choices. A comparison of clubs’ performances in regular season matches played before and after introduction of the draft provides no evidence that clubs have engaged in tanking. The main potential explanations for the absence of tanking in the Australian Football League are the relatively low benefits to clubs from tanking and limited opportunities for them to engage in this behavior.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeff Borland & Mark Chicu & Robert D. Macdonald, 2009. "Do Teams Always Lose to Win? Performance Incentives and the Player Draft in the Australian Football League," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 10(5), pages 451-484, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jospec:v:10:y:2009:i:5:p:451-484
    DOI: 10.1177/1527002509331615
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Helena Fornwagner, 2017. "Incentives to lose revisited: The NHL and its tournament incentives," Working Papers 2017-07, Faculty of Economics and Statistics, Universität Innsbruck.
    2. Lenten, Liam J.A. & Smith, Aaron C.T. & Boys, Noel, 2018. "Evaluating an alternative draft pick allocation policy to reduce ‘tanking’ in the Australian Football League," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 267(1), pages 315-320.
    3. Fornwagner, Helena, 2019. "Incentives to lose revisited: The NHL and its tournament incentives," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 75(PB).
    4. Jemuel Chandrakumaran, 2022. "An Experimental Method in Juxtaposing Draft Picks and Active Players," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 41(1), pages 68-77, March.
    5. Geoffrey N Tuck & Athol R Whitten, 2013. "Lead Us Not into Tanktation: A Simulation Modelling Approach to Gain Insights into Incentives for Sporting Teams to Tank," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(11), pages 1-10, November.
    6. Feddersen, Arne & Humphreys, Brad & Soebbing, Brian, 2012. "Cost Incentives in European Football," Working Papers 2012-13, University of Alberta, Department of Economics.
    7. John K. Wilson & Richard Pomfret, 2014. "Public Policy and Professional Sports," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15381.
    8. Jemuel Chandrakumaran, 2020. "How Did the AFL National Draft Mitigate Perverse Incentives?," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 21(2), pages 139-151, February.
    9. Brian Hill, 2021. "Tournament incentives and performance: Evidence from the WNBA," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 39(4), pages 882-900, October.
    10. Heather Mitchell & Constantino Stavros & Mark F. Stewart, 2011. "Does the Australian Football League Draft Undervalue Indigenous Australian Footballers?," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 12(1), pages 36-54, February.
    11. Joseph Price & Brian P. Soebbing & David Berri & Brad R. Humphreys, 2010. "Tournament Incentives, League Policy, and NBA Team Performance Revisited," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 11(2), pages 117-135, April.

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