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Demand for Public Events in the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of European Football

Author

Listed:
  • J. James Reade

    (Department of Economics, University of Reading)

  • Carl Singleton

    (Department of Economics, University of Reading)

Abstract

This study uses data from elite-level European football matches and panel data methods to suggest how people responded to the initial COVID-19 outbreak. In Italy, England and Germany, stadium attendances were negatively affected by the previous day's newly confirmed domestic cases or deaths. In France and Spain, there was no significant attendance response to the early stages of the domestic outbreaks. In all five countries, there was no negative attendance response to the number of worldwide cases or deaths as the outbreak developed. Overall, these results confirm that COVID-19 was affecting football match spectator demand before European countries enforced lockdowns and other restrictions to suppress the spread of the disease. This suggests that fans significantly responded to the risk of catching the virus. If this risk remains when stadiums reopen, then sports organisations should expect reduced ticket demand.

Suggested Citation

  • J. James Reade & Carl Singleton, 2020. "Demand for Public Events in the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of European Football," Economics Discussion Papers em-dp2020-09, Department of Economics, University of Reading, revised 01 Oct 2020.
    • Handle: RePEc:rdg:emxxdp:em-dp2020-09
    as

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    File URL: http://www.reading.ac.uk/web/FILES/economics/emdp202009.pdf
    File Function: Revised version, 2020
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Svenja Feiler & Christoph Breuer, 2021. "Perceived Threats through COVID-19 and the Role of Organizational Capacity: Findings from Non-Profit Sports Clubs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-24, June.
    2. Artur Grabowski, 2021. "Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic and Lockdown on the Activities of European Football Companies," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(Special 3), pages 645-654.
    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. J. James Reade & Dominik Schreyer & Carl Singleton, 2021. "Stadium attendance demand during the COVID-19 crisis: early empirical evidence from Belarus," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(18), pages 1542-1547, October.
    5. Matthew Olczak & J. James Reade & Matthew Yeo, 2020. "Mass Outdoor Events and the Spread of a Virus: English Football and Covid-19," Economics Discussion Papers em-dp2020-19, Department of Economics, University of Reading.
    6. Vincenzo Alfano, 2022. "COVID-19 Diffusion Before Awareness: The Role of Football Match Attendance in Italy," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 23(5), pages 503-523, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Demand for sport; Stadium attendance; Coronavirus; European Economy; Public Health;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • L83 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Sports; Gambling; Restaurants; Recreation; Tourism
    • Z20 - Other Special Topics - - Sports Economics - - - General

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