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Private Firm, Public Corporation or Member’s Association Governance Structures in European Football

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  • Egon Franck

    (University of Zurich)

Abstract

Based on the analysis of the specific environment in which football clubs compete, this paper presents a comparative institutional analysis of three paradigmatic structures of football club governance: privately owned football firms, public football corporations (stock corporations with dispersed ownership) and members’ associations with an own legal personality (Verein). Against the background that “spending power” is the main driver of competitive advantage for clubs in the overinvestment environment of European football, the governance structure of the privately owned football firm exhibits superior abilities to tap sources of funding and channel them into playing talent. The results of the analysis are applied to current developments in German and English football and to recent initiatives of the Football Governing Bodies.

Suggested Citation

  • Egon Franck, 2010. "Private Firm, Public Corporation or Member’s Association Governance Structures in European Football," International Journal of Sport Finance, Fitness Information Technology, vol. 5(2), pages 108-127, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:jsf:intjsf:v:5:y:2010:i:2:p:108-127
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    Cited by:

    1. Egon Franck, 2010. "„Zombierennen“ und „Patenonkel“ „Zombierennen“ und „Patenonkel“–Warum deutsche Fußballklubs in der Champions League regelmäßig den Kürzeren ziehen," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 62(62), pages 1-13, January.
    2. Marc Rohde & Christoph Breuer, 2016. "Europe’s Elite Football: Financial Growth, Sporting Success, Transfer Investment, and Private Majority Investors," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 4(2), pages 1-20, June.
    3. Paul Madden, 2012. "Welfare Economics of "Financial Fair Play" in a Sports League With Benefactor Owners," Economics Discussion Paper Series 1221, Economics, The University of Manchester.
    4. Vöpel, Henning, 2013. "Is Financial Fair Play really justified? An economic and legal assessment of UEFA's Financial Fair Play rules," HWWI Policy Papers 79, Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI).
    5. Stephen Morrow, 2014. "Football finances," Chapters, in: John Goddard & Peter Sloane (ed.), Handbook on the Economics of Professional Football, chapter 6, pages 80-99, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. Pamela Wicker & Christian Weingärtner & Christoph Breuer & Helmut Dietl, 2012. "The Effect of a Sports Institution’s Legal Structure on Sponsorship Income: The Case of Amateur Equestrian Sports in Germany," International Journal of Sport Finance, Fitness Information Technology, vol. 7(4), pages 340-357, November.
    7. Donato Masciandaro & Ariela Caglio & Sébastien Laffitte & Gianmarco Ottaviano, 2022. "Has Financial Fair Play Changed European Football?," BAFFI CAREFIN Working Papers 22189, BAFFI CAREFIN, Centre for Applied Research on International Markets Banking Finance and Regulation, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy.
    8. Egon Franck, 2010. "„Zombierennen“ und „Patenonkel“ - Warum deutsche Fussballklubs in der Champions League den Kürzeren ziehen," Working Papers 0036, University of Zurich, Center for Research in Sports Administration (CRSA).
    9. Markus Lang & Martin Grossmann & Philipp Theiler, 2011. "The Sugar Daddy Game: How Wealthy Investors Change Competition in Professional Team Sports," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 167(4), pages 557-577, December.
    10. Marc Rohde & Christoph Breuer, 2018. "Competing by investments or efficiency? Exploring financial and sporting efficiency of club ownership structures in European football," Sport Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(5), pages 563-581, December.
    11. Peter Sloane, 2014. "Club objectives," Chapters, in: John Goddard & Peter Sloane (ed.), Handbook on the Economics of Professional Football, chapter 1, pages 13-22, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    12. Armin Wiedenegger & Alexander Kern & Maria Rupprechter, 2012. "The Choice of Legal Form and its Effects on Good Governance: A Case Study of an Austrian Professional Soccer Club," Ekonomika a Management, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2012(3), pages 23-43.
    13. Andrew Adams & Stephen Morrow & Ian Thomson, 2016. "The 'Typical' Club? A Configuration Analysis of Scottish Football Clubs," CFI Discussion Papers 1601, Centre for Finance and Investment, Heriot Watt University.
    14. Egon Franck, 2014. "Financial Fair Play in European Club Football: What Is It All About?," International Journal of Sport Finance, Fitness Information Technology, vol. 9(3), pages 193-217, August.
    15. Bastien Drut & Gaël Raballand, 2010. "The Impact of Governance on European Football Leagues’ Competitiveness," EconomiX Working Papers 2010-27, University of Paris Nanterre, EconomiX.
    16. Paul Madden, 2014. "Does Break-Even Regulation of Soccer Clubs Make Sense?," Economics Discussion Paper Series 1405, Economics, The University of Manchester.
    17. Tim Powlowski & Dennis Coates, 2013. "The habit for voting, “civic duty” and travel distance," UMBC Economics Department Working Papers 13-05, UMBC Department of Economics.
    18. Kushtrim VLLASAJ, 2021. "Inspecting The Dominant Management Patterns Of Nonprofit Sport Organizations: A Systematic Review," CrossCultural Management Journal, Fundația Română pentru Inteligența Afacerii, Editorial Department, issue 1, pages 89-106, July.
    19. Aurélien François & Nadine Dermit-Richard & Daniel Plumley & Robert Wilson, 2021. "Analyzing the effectiveness of UEFA's financial fair play regulations: A comparative study of the French Ligue 1 and the English Premier League [L'analyse du fair-play financier au prisme de son ef," Post-Print hal-03167685, HAL.
    20. Paul Madden, 2015. "Welfare Economics of “Financial Fair Play†in a Sports League With Benefactor Owners," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 16(2), pages 159-184, February.
    21. Egon Franck, 2016. "A comment on the newly revised “2015 version” of the UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations," Working Papers 362, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW).
    22. Richau, Lukas & Follert, Florian & Frenger, Monika & Emrich, Eike, 2021. "The Rainmaker?! The impact of investors on transfer fees in the English Premier League," Working Paper 187/2021, Helmut Schmidt University, Hamburg.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    private firm; public corporation; members’ association; Verein; governance structure; overinvestment; European football; Bundesliga; Premier League; UEFA;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L83 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Sports; Gambling; Restaurants; Recreation; Tourism

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