The Determinants of the TV Demand for Soccer: Empirical Evidence on Italian Serie A for the Period 2008-2015

Abstract

This paper investigates the determinants of the TV audience for Italian soccer in seven SerieA seasons (2008-09 to 2014-15

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

“…These influences have been categorised -to different degrees -by multiple researchers (Thomas & Jolsen, 1979; F o r P e e r R e v i e w 5 Greenstein & Marcum, 1981;Baimbridge, Cameron, & Dawson, 1996;Garcia & Rodriguez, 2002;Leeds & Sakata, 2011), but the most comprehensive overview and categorisation of determinants-of-demand have been provided by Borland and McDonald (2003). Caruso, Addesa and Di Domizio (2017) summarise Borland and McDonald's (2003) review, stressing five key elements; i) competitive balance: increasing match, seasonal and long-run uncertainty increases demand; ii) contest quality: the higher the quality level of the fixture, the higher the attendance; iii) viewing quality: new stadia and facilities draw higher demand, and demand is sensitive to weather conditions and match timing; iv) price: the level of demand sensitivity to price is variable among teams, and v) TV: individual fixture demand can be negatively affected by broadcasting. One common aspect of all demand-based research is the appreciation of the importance of competitive balance within professional team sports.…”

“…The body of literature analysing the UoO hypothesis provides inconsistent empirical results, and whilst some research supports the hypothesis (Peel & Thomas, 1997;Carmichael, Millington & Simmons, 1999;Wekli & Zlatoper, 1999;Falter & Perignon, 2000;Levin & McDonald, 2009;Schreyer & Torgler, 2018), the vast majority rejects it (Whitney, 1988;Knowles, Sherony & Haupert, 1992;Rascher, 1999;McDonald & Rascher, 2000;King, Owen & Audas, 2012;Coates & Humphreys, 2012;Coates, Humphreys & Zhou, 2014;Pérez, Puente & Rodríguez, 2017;Artero & Bandrés, 2018). Indeed, while these articles focus on a range of sports and therefore may yield differing outcomes, hitherto also within European association football the evidence is not conclusive (Peel & Thomas, 1992Forrest & Simmons, 2002;Goossens, 2006;Buraimo & Simmons, 2008, 2009de Groot, 2008;Michie & Oughton, 2004;Szymanski, 2001;Pawlowski & Anders, 2012;Scelles et al, 2013aScelles et al, , 2013bMontes, Sala-Garrido & Usai, 2014;Andreff & Scelles 2015;Caruso et al, 2017). Pawlowski (2013) suggests that empirical proof of the UoO hypothesis is absent because the proxies used to measure it are inadequate.…”

“…Other explanatory variables are; fixture, also used by Di Domizio (2013) and Caruso et al (2017), that is the count of matches in each season also included in quadratic form to verify Finally, we have included outcome_uncertainty, that is the UoO-related variable obtained from the betting market (more precisely from BET365, that provide the most comprehensive dataset) and calculated as the differences (in absolute value) between the home and the away team win probabilities (Buraimo & Simmons, 2009 "Coppa Italia" were in the first five positions), top_bottom for two different sporting prizes (relegation and one of the above-mentioned) and relegation to avoid one of the last three positions; as well as a variable measuring fans' expectations against the home team performance, aiming to fill a gap in the literature inspired from Scelles et al (2016, p.22), as "the attractiveness of sporting prizes for fans does not only depend on their absolute importance but also the anticipated position of the home team". This variable (fan_expectations) is calculated as the difference between the home team's predicted final position according to Eurobet "ante-post" odds and the position in the standings before the game.…”

Game Outcome Uncertainty and Television Audience Demand: New Evidence from German Football

“…Likewise, Johnsen and Solvoll () identify no effect of GOU on television audience demand for either Danish or Norwegian league football, while Caruso et al . () and Di Domizio (, ) report somewhat contradictory initial findings for the Italian Serie A .…”

“… The Cagliari‐Roma match in the 2012/13 season was not played because of problems with the home team stadium (Caruso et al ., , p. 24). …”