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Promotion and Relegation in Sporting Contests

Author

Listed:
  • Stefan Szymanski

    (Imperial College London)

  • Tommaso M. Valletti

    (Imperial College London
    CEPR, London)

Abstract

The conventional model of a team sports league is based on the North American major leagues which have a fixed number of members, entry is rare and only granted by permission of the incumbents (the closed system). European soccer leagues operate a system of promotion and relegation, effectively permitting entry on merit to all-comers (the open system). This paper examines the impact of openness on the incentive of teams to invest (expend effort) and share resources (redistribution) in the context of a Tullock contest. The main conclusion of the paper is that openness tends to enhance effort incentives, but diminishes the incentive to share income.

Suggested Citation

  • Stefan Szymanski & Tommaso M. Valletti, 2005. "Promotion and Relegation in Sporting Contests," Rivista di Politica Economica, SIPI Spa, vol. 95(3), pages 3-39, May-June.
    • Handle: RePEc:rpo:ripoec:v:95:y:2005:i:3:p:3-39
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    18. Luigi Buzzacchi & Stefan Szymanski & Tommaso Valletti, 2003. "Equality of Opportunity and Equality of Outcome: Open Leagues, Closed Leagues and Competitive Balance *#We thank the Editor and an anonymous referee for helpful comments," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 3(3), pages 167-186, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Braun, Erik & Gyimesi, András, 2021. "Van-e esélyük a feljutó csapatoknak a bennmaradásra? Az európai labdarúgó-bajnokságok összehasonlítása az első osztály előnye alapján [Do novice top teams have a chance of remaining?]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(7), pages 863-889.
    2. Jean-Baptiste Dherbecourt & Bastien Drut, 2009. "Who will go down this year ? The Determinants of Promotion and Relegation in European Soccer Leagues," Working Papers hal-04140848, HAL.
    3. John Jasina & Kurt Rotthoff, 2012. "A model of promotion and relegation in league sports," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 36(2), pages 303-318, April.
    4. Puterman Martin L & Wang Qingchen, 2011. "Optimal Dynamic Clustering Through Relegation and Promotion: How to Design a Competitive Sports League," Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports, De Gruyter, vol. 7(2), pages 1-34, May.
    5. Pelnar, Gregory, 2007. "Antitrust Analysis of Sports Leagues," MPRA Paper 5382, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Giorgo Sertsios, 2007. "¿Puede el Diseño de un Torneo Deportivo Afectar su Asistencia?," Latin American Journal of Economics-formerly Cuadernos de Economía, Instituto de Economía. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile., vol. 44(129), pages 59-89.
    7. Luigi Buzzacchi & Stefan Szymanski & Tommaso Valletti, 2003. "Equality of Opportunity and Equality of Outcome: Open Leagues, Closed Leagues and Competitive Balance *#We thank the Editor and an anonymous referee for helpful comments," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 3(3), pages 167-186, September.
    8. Nicola Giocoli, 2007. "Competitive balance in football leagues when teams have different goals," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 54(3), pages 345-370, September.
    9. Pedro Garcia-del-Barrio & Stefan Szymanski, 2009. "Goal! Profit Maximization Versus Win Maximization in Soccer," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 34(1), pages 45-68, February.
    10. Matthieu Llorca & Thierry Teste, 2016. "Dépenses salariales et performance dans l’industrie du football," Revue française d'économie, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 0(2), pages 125-145.
    11. Stefan Szymanski, 2010. "The Champions League and the Coase Theorem," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Football Economics and Policy, chapter 10, pages 202-225, Palgrave Macmillan.
    12. Dietl, Helmut & Duschl, Tobias, 2012. "The organization of professional sports leagues: A comparison of European and North-American leagues from the perspective of platform organization," Edition HWWI: Chapters, in: Büch, Martin-Peter & Maennig, Wolfgang & Schulke, Hans-Jürgen (ed.), Sport und Sportgroßveranstaltungen in Europa - zwischen Zentralstaat und Regionen, volume 4, pages 111-126, Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI).
    13. Helmut Dietl & Martin Grossmann & Andreas Hefti & Markus Lang, 2015. "Spillovers in Sports Leagues with Promotion and Relegation," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 62(1), pages 59-74, February.
    14. Matthias Brachert, 2021. "Regional effects of professional sports franchises: causal evidence from four European football leagues," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(2), pages 295-306, February.
    15. 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.
    16. Brachert, Matthias, 2018. "The regional effects of professional sports franchises: Causal evidence from four European football leagues," IWH Discussion Papers 10/2018, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • L83 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Sports; Gambling; Restaurants; Recreation; Tourism
    • P51 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems - - - Comparative Analysis of Economic Systems

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