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Bad for Business? The Effects of Hooliganism on English Professional Football Clubs

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  • R. Todd Jewell
  • Rob Simmons
  • Stefan Szymanski

Abstract

Football hooliganism, defined as episodes of crowd trouble inside and outside football stadiums on match days, is commonly perceived to have adverse effects on the sport. We are especially interested in the effects of football-related fan violence on a club’s potential for generating revenues. In this article, we measure hooliganism by arrests for football-related offenses. We analyze two distinct periods in the history of hooliganism in the English Football League: an early period, during which hooliganism was a fundamental social problem (seasons from 1984-1985 to 1994-1995), and a more recent period, in which hooliganism has been less prevalent (2001-2002 to 2009-2010). In the early period, we find evidence of an adverse effect of arrests on football club revenues for English League clubs. This effect disappears in the more recent period, showing that hooliganism, while still present but at lower levels, no longer has adverse effects on club finances. Our results support a hypothesis that recent “gentrification†has reduced hooliganism and thereby has had a positive influence on revenue generation.

Suggested Citation

  • R. Todd Jewell & Rob Simmons & Stefan Szymanski, 2014. "Bad for Business? The Effects of Hooliganism on English Professional Football Clubs," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 15(5), pages 429-450, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jospec:v:15:y:2014:i:5:p:429-450
    DOI: 10.1177/1527002514535169
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Sander, Christian J. & Thiem, Stefan, 2023. "Should football fans pay for security? Effects of a security fee," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 122-130.
    2. J. James Reade & Jan C. Van Ours, 2023. "How sensitive are sports fans to unemployment?," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(3), pages 324-330, February.
    3. J. James Reade, 2023. "Large Sporting Events and Public Health and Safety," Economics Discussion Papers em-dp2023-04, Department of Economics, University of Reading.
    4. Alperen Kocsoy, 2025. "Meritocracy or Bias? The Determinants of Leadership Selection in Professional Football," World Journal of Applied Economics, WERI-World Economic Research Institute, vol. 11(2), pages 63-77, December.
    5. Kuang-Hua Hu & Fu-Hsiang Chen & Gwo-Hshiung Tzeng, 2016. "Evaluating the Improvement of Sustainability of Sports Industry Policy Based on MADM," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(7), pages 1-21, June.
    6. Misael Martinez & Jonathan Willner, 2017. "Competitive Balance and Consumer Demand in the English Football League," Applied Finance and Accounting, Redfame publishing, vol. 3(2), pages 49-60, August.

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