IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/coecpo/v36y2018i1p215-233.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Is The Revenue Allocation Scheme Of Formula One Motor Racing A Case For European Competition Policy?

Author

Listed:
  • Oliver Budzinski
  • Anika Müller‐Kock

Abstract

Recent allegations from participants of the FIA Formula One World Championship (F1) suggest that its authorities violate European competition law in two ways. First, they allegedly abuse market power by forcing unfavorable contracts on media revenue allocation upon teams as a whole and on smaller teams in particular (vertical allocation of media revenue). Second, they allegedly form a cartel with selected teams to the detriment of smaller teams by providing unjustified extra payments to these teams (horizontal allocation of media revenues). In doing so, the cartel members allegedly secure supracompetitive rents from the authorities and cement an unfair competitive advantage over the outsider teams. Employing concentration measures from empirical economics, we present an assessment of whether the current antitrust allegations against F1 may be considered valid or not. We show that the allocation scheme employed in F1 considerably differs from those in other professional sports championships. We find the empirical picture to be consistent with an anticompetitive interpretation of F1 media revenue structures and policies. We conclude that there is merit in initiating an in‐depth antitrust investigation of Formula One motor racing. (JEL K21, L12, L40, L83, Z20)

Suggested Citation

  • Oliver Budzinski & Anika Müller‐Kock, 2018. "Is The Revenue Allocation Scheme Of Formula One Motor Racing A Case For European Competition Policy?," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 36(1), pages 215-233, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:coecpo:v:36:y:2018:i:1:p:215-233
    DOI: 10.1111/coep.12247
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/coep.12247
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/coep.12247?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stephen F. Ross, 2003. "Competition Law as a Constraint on Monopolistic Exploitation by Sports Leagues and Clubs," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 19(4), pages 569-584, Winter.
    2. Scott E. Atkinson & Linda R. Stanley & John Tschirhart, 1988. "Revenue Sharing as an Incentive in an Agency Problem: An example from the National Football League," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 19(1), pages 27-43, Spring.
    3. Stefan Szymanski, 2010. "Income Inequality, Competitive Balance and the Attractiveness of Team Sports: Some Evidence and a Natural Experiment from English Soccer," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Football Economics and Policy, chapter 9, pages 182-201, Palgrave Macmillan.
    4. Oliver Budzinski, 2011. "The Institutional Framework for Doing Sports Business: Principles of EU Competition Policy in Sports Markets," Working Papers 108/11, University of Southern Denmark, Department of Sociology, Environmental and Business Economics.
    5. Walter C. Neale, 1964. "The Peculiar Economics of Professional Sports," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 78(1), pages 1-14.
    6. Wladimir Andreff & Stefan Szymanski (ed.), 2006. "Handbook on the Economics of Sport," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 3274.
    7. Oliver Budzinski & Stefan Szymanski, 2015. "Are Restrictions Of Competition By Sports Associations Horizontal Or Vertical In Nature?," Journal of Competition Law and Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 11(2), pages 409-429.
    8. Georgios Nalbantis & Tim Pawlowski & Dennis Coates, 2017. "The Fans’ Perception of Competitive Balance and Its Impact on Willingness-to-Pay for a Single Game," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 18(5), pages 479-505, June.
    9. El-Hodiri, Mohamed & Quirk, James, 1971. "An Economic Model of a Professional Sports League," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 79(6), pages 1302-1319, Nov.-Dec..
    10. Wladimir Andreff & Stefan Szymanski, 2006. "Handbook on the Economics of Sport," Post-Print halshs-00275933, HAL.
    11. Roger G. Noll, 2007. "Broadcasting And Team Sports," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 54(3), pages 400-421, July.
    12. Stefan Szymanski & Stefan Késenne, 2010. "Competitive Balance and Gate Revenue Sharing in Team Sports," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: The Comparative Economics of Sport, chapter 7, pages 229-243, Palgrave Macmillan.
    13. Sonia Falconieri & Frédéric Palomino & József Sákovics, 2004. "Collective Versus Individual Sale of Television Rights in League Sports," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 2(5), pages 833-862, September.
    14. Oliver Budzinski & Janina Satzer, 2011. "Sports Business and Multisided Markets: Towards a New Analytical Framework? (Long Version)," Working Papers 1104, International Association of Sports Economists;North American Association of Sports Economists.
    15. Stefan Kesenne, 2000. "Revenue Sharing and Competitive Balance in Professional Team Sports," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 1(1), pages 56-65, February.
    16. Peeters, Thomas, 2012. "Media revenue sharing as a coordination device in sports leagues," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 153-163.
    17. Oliver Gürtler, 2007. "A Rationale for the Coexistence of Central and Decentral Marketing in Team Sports," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 8(1), pages 89-106, February.
    18. Sloane, Peter J, 1971. "The Economics of Professional Football: The Football Club as a Utility Maximiser," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 18(2), pages 121-146, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Tomislav Globan & Ed Jägers, 2019. "Multiple Ownership, Collusion And Unusual Result Patterns In Soccer," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 37(2), pages 245-260, April.
    2. Budzinski, Oliver, 2017. "Four cases in sports competition policy: Baseball, judo, football, and motor racing," Ilmenau Economics Discussion Papers 109, Ilmenau University of Technology, Institute of Economics.
    3. Rocaboy Yvon, 2023. "Inter-league Competition and the Optimal Broadcasting Revenue-Sharing Rule," The B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 23(2), pages 723-756, June.
    4. Oliver Budzinski & Arne Feddersen, 2020. "Measuring competitive balance in Formula One racing," Chapters, in: Plácido Rodríguez & Stefan Kesenne & Brad R. Humphreys (ed.), Outcome Uncertainty in Sporting Events, chapter 1, pages 5-26, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. D'ora Gr'eta Petr'oczy & L'aszl'o Csat'o, 2019. "Revenue allocation in Formula One: a pairwise comparison approach," Papers 1909.12931, arXiv.org, revised Dec 2020.
    6. repec:beo:swcetp:23-12 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Budzinski, Oliver & Gänßle, Sophia & Kunz-Kaltenhäuser, Philipp, 2019. "How does online streaming affect antitrust remedies to centralized marketing? The case of European football broadcasting rights," Ilmenau Economics Discussion Papers 128, Ilmenau University of Technology, Institute of Economics.
    8. Georgios Nalbantis & Tim Pawlowski, 2019. "U.S. Demand for European Soccer Telecasts: A Between-Country Test of the Uncertainty of Outcome Hypothesis," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 20(6), pages 797-818, August.
    9. Budzinski, Oliver, 2023. "(Sports) economics upside down? A comment on the Advocate General opinion in European Super League versus UEFA/FIFA," Ilmenau Economics Discussion Papers 173, Ilmenau University of Technology, Institute of Economics.
    10. Budzinski, Oliver & Feddersen, Arne, 2022. "Should organizing premier-level European football be a monopoly? And who should run it? - An economists' perspective," Ilmenau Economics Discussion Papers 166, Ilmenau University of Technology, Institute of Economics.
    11. Budzinski, Oliver & Feddersen, Arne & Kunz-Kaltenhäuser, Philipp, 2023. "Zwischen Wettbewerbsorganisation und Wettbewerbsverzerrungen - Regelsetzungen durch europäische Fußballverbände," Ilmenau Economics Discussion Papers 174, Ilmenau University of Technology, Institute of Economics.
    12. Dejan Trifunović & Bojan Ristić, 2023. "The Impact Of The Horizontal Distribution Of Media Rights Revenues In Sports Leagues On Competitive Balance," Shaping Post-COVID World – Challenges for Economic Theory and Policy, in: Aleksandra Praščević & Miomir Jakšić & Mihail Arandarenko & Dejan Trifunović & Milutin Ješić (ed.),Shaping Post-COVID World – Challenges for Economic Theory and Policy, chapter 12, pages 263-285, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Belgrade.
    13. Budzinski, Oliver, 2024. "Financial regulation in sport championships as an anticompetitive institution," Ilmenau Economics Discussion Papers 187, Ilmenau University of Technology, Institute of Economics.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Budzinski, Oliver & Müller-Kock, Anika, 2016. "Market power and media revenue allocation in professonal sports: The case of formula one," Ilmenau Economics Discussion Papers 102, Ilmenau University of Technology, Institute of Economics.
    2. Budzinski, Oliver, 2017. "Four cases in sports competition policy: Baseball, judo, football, and motor racing," Ilmenau Economics Discussion Papers 109, Ilmenau University of Technology, Institute of Economics.
    3. Budzinski, Oliver & Gänßle, Sophia & Kunz-Kaltenhäuser, Philipp, 2019. "How does online streaming affect antitrust remedies to centralized marketing? The case of European football broadcasting rights," Ilmenau Economics Discussion Papers 128, Ilmenau University of Technology, Institute of Economics.
    4. Budzinski, Oliver, 2024. "Financial regulation in sport championships as an anticompetitive institution," Ilmenau Economics Discussion Papers 187, Ilmenau University of Technology, Institute of Economics.
    5. Budzinski, Oliver, 2017. "Market-internal financial regulation in sports as an anticompetitive institution," Ilmenau Economics Discussion Papers 110, Ilmenau University of Technology, Institute of Economics.
    6. Dietl Helmut M & Duschl Tobias & Lang Markus, 2011. "Executive Pay Regulation: What Regulators, Shareholders, and Managers Can Learn from Major Sports Leagues," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 13(2), pages 1-32, August.
    7. Pelnar, Gregory, 2007. "Antitrust Analysis of Sports Leagues," MPRA Paper 5382, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Budzinski, Oliver & Feddersen, Arne, 2022. "Should organizing premier-level European football be a monopoly? And who should run it? - An economists' perspective," Ilmenau Economics Discussion Papers 166, Ilmenau University of Technology, Institute of Economics.
    9. Markus LANG & Alexander RATHKE & Marco RUNKEL, 2010. "The Economic Consequences Of Foreigner Rules In National Sports Leagues," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 31, pages 47-64.
    10. Stefan Szymanski, 2010. "The Economic Design of Sporting Contests," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: The Comparative Economics of Sport, chapter 1, pages 1-78, Palgrave Macmillan.
    11. Helmut Dietl & Egon Franck & Martin Grossmann & Markus Lang, 2009. "Contest Theory and its Applications in Sports," Working Papers 0029, University of Zurich, Center for Research in Sports Administration (CRSA).
    12. Wladimir Andreff, 2011. "Some comparative economics of the organization of sports: Competition and regulation in north American vs. European professional team sports leagues," Post-Print halshs-00677436, HAL.
    13. Thomas Peeters, 2011. "Optimal gate revenue sharing in sports leagues," Working Papers 1122, International Association of Sports Economists;North American Association of Sports Economists.
    14. Wladimir Andreff, 2011. "Some comparative economics of the organization of sports: Competition and regulation in north American vs. European professional team sports leagues," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-00677436, HAL.
    15. Peeters, Thomas, 2012. "Media revenue sharing as a coordination device in sports leagues," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 153-163.
    16. Budzinski, Oliver & Pawlowski, Tim, 2014. "The behavioural economics of competitive balance: Implications for league policy and championship management," Ilmenau Economics Discussion Papers 89, Ilmenau University of Technology, Institute of Economics.
    17. Rocaboy Yvon, 2023. "Inter-league Competition and the Optimal Broadcasting Revenue-Sharing Rule," The B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 23(2), pages 723-756, June.
    18. Oliver Gürtler & Markus Lang & Tim Pawlowski, 2015. "On the Release of Players to National Teams," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 16(7), pages 695-713, October.
    19. Helmut M. Dietl & Martin Grossmann & Markus Lang, 2011. "Competitive Balance and Revenue Sharing in Sports Leagues With Utility-Maximizing Teams," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 12(3), pages 284-308, June.
    20. Steven Salaga & Alan Ostfield & Jason Winfree, 2014. "Revenue Sharing with Heterogeneous Investments in Sports Leagues: Share Media, Not Stadiums," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 45(1), pages 1-19, August.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • K21 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Antitrust Law
    • L12 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Monopoly; Monopolization Strategies
    • L40 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - General
    • L83 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Sports; Gambling; Restaurants; Recreation; Tourism
    • Z20 - Other Special Topics - - Sports Economics - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:coecpo:v:36:y:2018:i:1:p:215-233. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/weaaaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.