Efficiency analysis of social performance – the case of Turkish super league

Undoubtedly, due to its impact on both revenues and the home advantage, social performance is a key factor of success for football clubs. Growing revenues and the government’s eagerness to promote football in Turkey in recent years have created desirable conditions for Turkish clubs. However, research into the impact of social performance success has not received much attention, especially in Turkey, despite Turkey being one of the major leagues in Europe. This study aims to fill this gap in the literature. It does so by investigating social performance using a two-stage stochastic frontier analysis drawing on evidence from the Turkish Super League between the 2012/2013 and 2017/2018 seasons. Results from the first stage illustrate that social efficiency leaders change almost every season. Results from the second stage of research identify which specific factors are diminishing the social technical efficiency for clubs in the Turkish Super League. It emerges that the fundamental source of social inefficiency in Turkey is the Passolig, an identification system implemented in 2014. Furthermore, it transpires that heterogeneity among the clubs’ hometowns is also highly influential on social efficiency. However, even though attendance has managed to recover back to pre-Passolig levels, social efficiency is still lower than the pre-Passolig levels.