The Economics of Competitive Sports

This book surveys the economics of competitive sports focusing on two areas--organization and competition, rewards and outcomes. Contributors present their essays covering rival league formation, the European model, hooliganism, talent, and career duration. Eleven chapters are divided into two parts: organization of sports and competition; competition: competitive balance, rewards and outcome. Chapters are: rival sports league formation and competition; the pyramid market of the European Sports Model; the English disease; where to play first (away or home) in a best-of-two tournament?; long-term and short-term causes of insolvency and English football; the optimal competitive balance in a sports league?; live football demand; sport talent, media value and equal prize policies in tennis; career duration in capital-intensive individualistic sports; determinants of national medals totals at the summer Olympic Games; economic prediction of sport performances from the Beijing Olympics to the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Annotation c2015 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)

Edited by Placido Rodriguez, University of Oviedo, Spain, Stefan Kesenne, University of Antwerp and KU Leuven, Belgium and Ruud Koning, University of Groningen, the Netherlands