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Competitive Intensity, Fans’ Expectations, and Match-Day Tickets Sold in the Italian Football Serie A, 2012-2015

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  • Alexander John Bond
  • Francesco Addesa

Abstract

This article investigates the impact of the competitive intensity (CI) on the stadium attendance for Italian soccer in three Serie A seasons (2012-13 to 2014-15). The central element of novelty concerning the existing literature is that fans expectations are also included among the explanatory variables of the Tobit model. Our results show that CI has a significant impact on match-day attendance in relation to all the sporting prizes but Europa League qualification. Moreover, we find evidence supporting the existence of reference-dependent preferences, where the attendance increases when the home team rank is higher than the preseason expectations.

Suggested Citation

  • Alexander John Bond & Francesco Addesa, 2020. "Competitive Intensity, Fans’ Expectations, and Match-Day Tickets Sold in the Italian Football Serie A, 2012-2015," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 21(1), pages 20-43, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jospec:v:21:y:2020:i:1:p:20-43
    DOI: 10.1177/1527002519864617
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    6. Alexander John Bond & Francesco Addesa, 2019. "TV demand for the Italian Serie A: star power or competitive intensity?," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 39(3), pages 2110-2116.

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