The UEFA Champions League: maintaining the status quo?

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the competitive balance of the UEFA Champions League group stages. There are numerous financial and commercial benefits to clubs that participate in this competition. The current paper examines whether the seeding system operated by UEFA is hindering some lower ranked teams from qualification and, thus, the associated benefits. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected for all UEFA Champions League group stages between1999/2000 and 2013/2014. Data analysis techniques included Herfindahl-Hirschman Index to examine competitive balance and one-way ANOVAs to examine the impact of the current seeding system on club performance. Findings – The findings suggest that there are flaws in the ranking and seeding system used by UEFA, as results show that the competition is competitively imbalanced at the group stage. Additionally, clubs that are continually placed in the highest seeding pot historically tend to accumulate more points and finish in a higher position in the group, thereby giving them a better opportunity to progress further in the competition. Research limitations/implications – The study has implications for both the clubs competing in the Champions League, who will be affected by the seeding system, and UEFA themselves when considering the sporting integrity of their flagship competition. Originality/value – To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper of its kind to examine competitive balance in this competition, and the paper contributes new knowledge that extends the research undertaken in the field previously.

A longitudinal and comparative analysis of competitive balance in five European football leagues

“…League. Another recent study by Plumley and Flint (2015), which examined the competitive balance of the UEFA Champions League group stages, found flaws in the ranking and seeding system used by UEFA and that, historically, the group stages of the Champions League have seen competitive imbalance. Furthermore, they argue that the seeding system continues to benefit the 'bigger' clubs in Europe and provides them with a greater opportunity of progression to the knockout rounds of the competition.…”

Parachute Payments in English Football: Softening the Landing or Distorting the Balance?

“…Our findings indicate that even if a club is relegated from the EPL it still has a higher chance on average of returning to that league over other clubs in the Championship owing in part to parachute payments. In the same way that Plumley and Flint (2015) argued that the seeding and ranking system in the UEFA Champions League was maintaining the status quo, one could argue that the EPL is also maintaining the status quo in respect of the clubs that occupy the places within the league. The evidence so far suggests that it is very difficult for a non-EPL club to gain promotion to that league and this will only be further compounded by future increases in parachute payments.…”

“…Aside from these papers, it appears that little attention has been given to football leagues in other European countries (Ramchandani, 2012). In relation to the findings of these studies, some detected no significant changes in competitive balance across European leagues (e.g., Goossens, 2006: German, French and Spanish first divisions; Groot, 2008 There is also one further study of note that examines the competitive balance in relation to the UEFA Champions League (the flagship competition of club European football) (Plumley & Flint, 2015). In respect of this paper, the authors find that there are flaws in the ranking and seeding system used by UEFA and that, historically, the group stages of the Champions League have seen competitive imbalance.…”

“…In respect of this paper, the authors find that there are flaws in the ranking and seeding system used by UEFA and that, historically, the group stages of the Champions League have seen competitive imbalance. Furthermore, the seeding system continues to benefit the 'bigger' clubs in Europe and provides them with a greater opportunity of progression to the knockout rounds of the competition, thus, as the authors' state, maintaining the 'status quo' of the competition (Plumley & Flint, 2015).…”

Turnover and balance between exploration and exploitation processes for high-performance teams

“…One possible explanation of these results is the lack of consideration of the effects that turnover has in a period of 3 or 4 seasons (taking into account the results of this research). Although the policies governing European football, such as the ranking and seeding system used by UEFA in the Champions League, tend to reinforce the status quo (Plumley and Flint, 2015), certain new policies, such as financial fair play, can help managers of sports teams to consider their strategies over longer periods (3 and 4 seasons), rather than just in the short term. On the other hand, the results also show some interesting implications regarding human capital policies on sport teams.…”