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Impact on Competitive Balance from Allowing Foreign Players in a Sports League: Evidence from European Soccer

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Listed:
  • Ramón Flores
  • David Forrest
  • J. D. Tena

Abstract

Different theoretical frameworks have yielded different predictions concerning the impact on competitive balance of widening the pool of players from which clubs in a sports league are permitted to recruit. We identify that one reason for differences is that models may represent clubs as hiring from the pool of talent either simultaneously or in a leader‐follower fashion (such that strong clubs have first pick of players). With the latter assumption, we suggest that there is an effect, the sign depending on how many extra talented players are admitted to the pool. Whether balance is modified favourably or unfavourably when, for example, foreign players are introduced is therefore an empirical matter. In our statistical analysis, we test for effects from the liberalisation of football player labour markets associated with the Bosman Ruling. We show that, across seventeen European football leagues, results derived from indicators based on tables of aggregated seasonal performance (for example, concentration ratios) point to an improvement in within‐season (but not cross‐season) competitive balance following Bosman.

Suggested Citation

  • Ramón Flores & David Forrest & J. D. Tena, 2010. "Impact on Competitive Balance from Allowing Foreign Players in a Sports League: Evidence from European Soccer," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(4), pages 546-557, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:kyklos:v:63:y:2010:i:4:p:546-557
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-6435.2010.00487.x
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    1. Meletakos, Panagiotis & Chatzicharistos, Dimitrios & Apostolidis, Nikolaos & Manasis, Vasilios & Bayios, Ioannis, 2016. "Foreign players and competitive balance in Greek basketball and handball championships," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 391-401.
    2. Valenti, Maurizio & Scelles, Nicolas & Morrow, Stephen, 2020. "The determinants of stadium attendance in elite women’s football: Evidence from the UEFA Women's Champions League," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 509-520.
    3. Tim Pawlowski, 2013. "Testing the Uncertainty of Outcome Hypothesis in European Professional Football," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 14(4), pages 341-367, August.
    4. Gyimesi, András, 2021. "Hosszú távú versenyegyensúly egy csapatsportliga közgazdasági modelljében [Long-term competitive balance in an economic model of a team sports league]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(6), pages 585-616.
    5. Matthieu Llorca & Thierry Teste, 2016. "Dépenses salariales et performance dans l’industrie du football," Revue française d'économie, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 0(2), pages 125-145.
    6. Miriam Marcén, 2016. "The Bosman ruling and the presence of native football players in their home league: the Spanish case," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 42(2), pages 209-235, October.
    7. Gasparetto, Thadeu & Barajas, Angel, 2016. "Reanalyzing the competitiveness in football leagues: accumulated points difference," RAE - Revista de Administração de Empresas, FGV-EAESP Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo (Brazil), vol. 56(3), May.
    8. Ozmen M. Utku, 2012. "Foreign Player Quota, Experience and Efficiency of Basketball Players," Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports, De Gruyter, vol. 8(1), pages 1-18, March.
    9. Bernd Frick, 2013. "Team wage bills and sporting performance: evidence from (major and minor) European football leagues," Chapters, in: Plácido Rodríguez & Stefan Késenne & Jaume García (ed.), The Econometrics of Sport, chapter 4, pages 63-80, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    10. Marcén, Miriam, 2014. "The impact of the Bosman ruling on the market for native soccer players," MPRA Paper 61013, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Dorian Owen, 2014. "Measurement of competitive balance and uncertainty of outcome," Chapters, in: John Goddard & Peter Sloane (ed.), Handbook on the Economics of Professional Football, chapter 3, pages 41-59, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    12. Sittl, Roman & Warnke, Arne Jonas, 2016. "Competitive balance and assortative matching in the German Bundesliga," ZEW Discussion Papers 16-058, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    13. Pawlowski, Tim & Budzinski, Oliver, 2014. "Competitive balance and attention level effects: Theoretical considerations and preliminary evidence," Ilmenau Economics Discussion Papers 84, Ilmenau University of Technology, Institute of Economics.
    14. Budzinski, Oliver & Pawlowski, Tim, 2014. "The behavioural economics of competitive balance: Implications for league policy and championship management," Ilmenau Economics Discussion Papers 89, Ilmenau University of Technology, Institute of Economics.
    15. John J. Binder & Murray Findlay, 2012. "The Effects of the Bosman Ruling on National and Club Teams in Europe," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 13(2), pages 107-129, April.
    16. Miguel Jara & Dimitri Paolini & Juan Dios Tena Horrillo, 2015. "Management Efficiency in Football: An Empirical Analysis of Two Extreme Cases," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(5), pages 286-298, July.
    17. Daniel Read & Aaron C.T. Smith & James Skinner, 2021. "A Comparative Analysis of Competitive Balance Between a Closed and an Open League in Rugby League," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 22(8), pages 871-892, December.
    18. Jan Šíma & Jan Procházka, 2011. "Compared Competitive Balance Evolution in the Dutch and the Czech Football Leagues between 1970 and 2010," Ekonomika a Management, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2011(2).
    19. Babatunde Buraimo & Jing Guan & J. D. Tena, 2025. "Does a super league tournament harm domestic leagues? Evidence from basketball's Euroleague," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 46(1), pages 317-328, January.
    20. Michal Varmus & Milan Kubina & Roman Adámik, 2019. "Impact of the Proportion of Foreign Players’ Appearances on the Success of Football Clubs in Domestic Competitions and European Competitions in the Context of New Culture," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-13, December.
    21. Padma Rao Sahib, 2015. "Status, Peer Influence, and Racio-ethnic Diversity in Times of Institutional Change: An Examination from European Labour Law," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 126(2), pages 205-218, January.

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