The Influence of European Cup Performances on Domestic Stadium Attendances in Romanian Football

Abstract

Widespread belief posits that a relationship exists between results obtained in European football competitions and live attendances at domestic league games. As part of the Europeanization process, international tournaments increasingly attract fans’ attention, often at the expense of national competitions, yet research up to date has focused on a wide array of explanatory variables for game attendance (spectator demand), but less on variables concerning how domestic teams perform in Europe. This article aims to fill the research gap by asking whether match attendances in national leagues can be predicted based on the results obtained by the domestic club teams in international competitions. UEFA team coefficients and domestic attendance figures for 74 European cup participations of Romanian teams spread over seventeen years from the 2000/2001 to the 2016/2017 season serve as input data for a regression model with an F-test and a p-value test. The Null Hypothesis instinctually claims no relationship exists between the variables, yet research results invalidate it for the good of the Alternative Hypothesis. The Discussions section presents what effects winning or losing in European cups can have on fans’ motivation to come and watch matches in the national league.