Impact of Market Value, Roster Size, Arrivals and Departures on Performance in Iranian Men’s Football

Abstract

This research aims to study the effect of the sustainable management of human resources on performance. It examines the impact of market value, roster size, arrivals and departures on team performance in football. Regressions are tested based on data from clubs in the Persian Gulf Pro League—the first tier in Iranian men’s football—over 2009–2022 (n = 216 observations). The results show that market value has a significant positive impact on team performance roster size and arrivals a significant negative impact, and departures no significant impact. When distinguishing departures between teams with a roster size below 33 players vs. 33 players and more, departures for roster size below 33 players have a significant positive impact vs. no impact for 33 players and more. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to distinguish arrivals and departures when looking at staff turnover in football. It informs the need for a sustainable roster (not too many arrivals) and roster size (not too high) to perform on the pitch. The article highlights that departures can help reach a more sustainable roster size (if too high) and a better team performance, while also contributing to a sustainable financial management.

Football players in light of economic value theory: Critical review and conceptualisation

“…Many studies on the drivers of the value of football players deem these values as proxies for transfer fees in their empirical settings (see subsequent Section 3.2). Furthermore, whether they are considered as proxies for transfer fees or for diverse variables such as superstardom, quality, salaries, or talent, Transfermarkt values are commonly used in a wide variety of empirical settings to investigate football economic questions such as productive efficiency (Boto-García et al, 2023), attendance (Baydina et al, 2021;Goller & Krumer, 2020;Schreyer et al, 2016;Serrano et al, 2015), referee bias (Faltings et al, 2023), valuation of clubs (Scelles et al, 2016), team performance (Massaro et al, 2019;Scelles & Khanmoradi, 2023), playing time (Naidenova et al, 2020), sport leagues organisational performance (Terrien & Andreff, 2020), TV audience (Schreyer et al, 2018), brand strength (Coates et al, 2017), results forecast (Peeters, 2018;Reade & Garcia-del-Barrio, 2023) or wages (Szymanski, 2022). In the meantime, several newspapers report the use of Transfermarkt values in the bargaining between football clubs for actual transfer fees 12 or in financial documentation.…”

“…Second, actual transfer fees and other observable quantitative data have been used as explanatory or control variables in various empirical settings. Without claiming to be exhaustive, it is useful to point out some examples and to refer to articles that have tested the role of transfer fees on ticket prices (Quansah et al, 2023) or stock market prices and returns (Fűrész & Rappai, 2022), but also the effect of Transfermarkt values on attendance (Baydina et al, 2021;Goller & Krumer, 2020;Schreyer et al, 2016;Serrano et al, 2015), club valuation (Scelles et al, 2016) or team performance (Massaro et al, 2019;Scelles & Khanmoradi, 2023). This snapshot of the variety of topics investigated highlights the importance of the soundness of the data and concepts related to football player valuation.…”

Game changers or money pits? Asymmetric impact of sports facilities investment on football revenue

“…The influx of tourists, increased ticket sales, and improved infrastructure contribute significantly to the overall financial success of the tournament and the sport as a whole. Furthermore, SFI can have a lasting impact on the community surrounding football clubs and facilities (Scelles & Khanmoradi, 2023). By creating modern sports complexes, clubs can organize grassroots programs, community leagues, and training camps that promote physical activity and healthy lifestyles among the local population.…”