Measuring the Efficiency of Spanish First-Division Soccer Teams

Abstract

The aim of this article is to measure the efficiency of the professional soccer teams that play in the Spanish First Division in their activity of converting attacking moves during the match into sporting success. The timeline of the study is the three seasons from 1998 to 2001. To that end, we apply the data envelopment analysis (DEA) methodology, taking as input variables the players used, attacking moves, the minutes of possession of the ball, and the shots and headers; as output, we considered the number of points achieved. Our main conclusion is that the efficient teams in the activity analyzed do not always correspond with those that finished highest in the league at the end of the season.The professional soccer teams that comprise the Spanish First Division are, in their majority, the star product of the institutions of which they form a part. Many of these institutions also have soccer teams that play in lower leagues, as well as basketball teams and other professional team sports that represent a broad and varied offering for their shareholders and season ticket holders alike. Furthermore, the great majority of them take the legal form of corporations (more specifically, under the Spanish company law system, sociedades anónimas deportivas). In the near future, some of these companies will be quoted on the Spanish stock market, as is already the case with some soccer clubs operating in other European countries. We are, therefore, dealing with entities that can be analyzed and studied from the point of view of economics and are using the tools of analysis that are provided by this discipline. In this sense, these entities carry out a productive process in which the productive factors are essentially human resources. These resources take the form of a team, which during the working week generates and perfects skills that are

Managing sporting success and economic efficiency in the professional football: Identification of determinant factors through the academic literature

“…Due to improving financial efficiency and possibilities of higher investments in the best talents (Szymanski, 2006;Guzmán and Morrow, 2007;Szymanski, 2014;MagazGonzalez et al, 2017), together with the achievement of winning competitions and human capital, that includes the team, coach and the club management (Espitia-Escuer and García-Cebrián, 2004;Wulf and Hungenberg, 2006;Prestana Barros et al, 2009;Murillo, 2012;Espitia-Escuer and García-Cebrián, 2014;Jara et al, 2015;Yasar et al, 2015;Carmichael et al, 2017), sporting success can be achieved.…”

“…According to the literature (Espitia-Escuer and García-Cebrián, 2004;, efficiency consists in a frugal use of available resources, thus, accomplishing activities during the sporting competition in an opportune way. Efficiency relates both inputs (means) and outputs (ends) (Guzmán and Morrow, 2007); and is seen as an essential factor in any organization (Espitia-Escuer and García-Cebrián, 2010), where efficiency is considered as the final criteria of determining the performance of a company.…”

“…Lastly, the club management, considering as necessary success determinant characteristics the professional training of managers and their term of office for reaching sporting success (Espitia-Escuer and García-Cebrián, 2004;Wulf and Hungenberg, 2006;Yasir et al, 2015).…”

Measuring efficiency and productivity in professional football teams: evidence from the English Premier League

“…The first output variable -points won in the FA Premier League -measures the club's sporting performance over the entire time period of a season, as well as measuring that performance on a regular basis given that each club play 38 league matches per season. Furthermore, points gained in the relevant national league have been used as a proxy for sporting success in other recent papers on professional football (Haas et al 2004;Espita-Escuer and García-Cebrián, 2004;Sánchez, 2006). The second output variable is derived from the company's financial statements and is an indicator of a club's financial success (Smith, 1990).…”

Analysing the technical efficiency of the Spanish Football League First Division with a random frontier model

“…Two traditions are observed, the DEA -data envelopment analysis, which has been applied by Haas, 2003A, 2004B, Barros and Santos 2005; Espitia-Escuer and García-Cebrian, 2004;D'Itry, 1996,1997;and Porter and Scully (1982) and the stochastic frontier models, which have been applied by Barros andLeach, 2006B, 2006C;Kahane, 2005;Gerrard (2005); Hoeffler and Payne, 1997;Dawson, Dobson and Gerrard, 2000;Carmichael, Thomas and Ward, 2001;Scully, 1994;and Zak, Huang and Siegfried (1979). The aim of this research is to combine sports and financial variables in the evaluation of the clubs' efficiency.…”