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The Importance of Club Revenues for Player Salaries and Transfer Expenses—How Does the Coronavirus Outbreak (COVID-19) Impact the English Premier League?

Author

Listed:
  • Tommy Quansah

    (Institute of Sport Sciences, University of Lausanne, Bâtiment Synathlon, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland)

  • Bernd Frick

    (Department of Management, Paderborn University, Warburger Str. 100, 33098 Paderborn, Germany)

  • Markus Lang

    (Institute of Sport Sciences, University of Lausanne, Bâtiment Synathlon, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland)

  • Kieran Maguire

    (Centre for Sport Business, Management School, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3BX, UK)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant disruption in the sports industry and has raised the question of whether the football industry is based on a sustainable business model. Using data from the English Premier League (EPL), we develop a regression model to achieve two objectives. First, we examine the relationship between the different revenue sources (TV revenues, match revenues, and commercial revenues) and the main cost drivers of professional football clubs (player salaries and transfer expenses). Second, we seek to predict the likely impact of a major market downturn such as the COVID-19 pandemic in the EPL. Our results suggest that TV revenues are by far the most important source of income for player salaries and market values, followed by match revenues and commercial revenues. We predict that player salaries, market values, and transfer expenses will all decrease in the forthcoming EPL season, 2020/2021. The magnitude of the reduction depends on the coronavirus scenario and ranges from −20.4% to −9.5% for player salaries and −26.7% to −12.4% for player market values. Our study seeks to explore the relative impact of the three main revenue sources in the EPL on the unprecedented growth of player salaries, market values, and net transfer expenses in the last three decades. In addition, our study adds to the understanding of the pandemic’s expected impact on the EPL.

Suggested Citation

  • Tommy Quansah & Bernd Frick & Markus Lang & Kieran Maguire, 2021. "The Importance of Club Revenues for Player Salaries and Transfer Expenses—How Does the Coronavirus Outbreak (COVID-19) Impact the English Premier League?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-22, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:9:p:5154-:d:549061
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Shao, Wen-Chao & Zhang, Han & Chou, Li-Chen & Ye, Xi-Xi, 2023. "Comparing athletes’ mastery of salary information before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from the national basketball association," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    3. Rafael Kujo Monteiro & Rodolfo Coelho Prates & Leonardo Matsuno Frota, 2023. "The determinants of player transfers in Brazil: the role of expectations in the football market," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(26), pages 2964-2977, June.

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