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Football attendance over the centuries

In: A Modern Guide to Sports Economics

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  • J. James Reade

Abstract

The demand for any good is of central importance, and the demand for professional sport is no different. What is unique when it comes to professional football is the length of time over which the numbers of people expressing a willingness to pay exist. For the English Football League - the oldest professional football league in the world, and operating in England and Wales - attendance data has been recorded since the league began in 1888. Since then 135 different clubs have participated in the league, providing a vast amount of data over three centuries. Data on match outcomes back to 1888 also exists, allowing analysis of determinants of attendance over a very long period of time. In this chapter, we analyse attendance at English Football League matches over three centuries, employing panel time series methods in order to determine the extent to which patterns of attendance have changed over the years, and have varied from club to club. Of particular interest is what we might attempt to identify as habit persistence. Have football fans become more or less persistent in their attendance patterns over the years? Do fans differ between clubs, and across regions? These kinds of questions regarding the persistence of football spectator behaviour are naturally important for the financial viability of football.

Suggested Citation

  • J. James Reade, 2021. "Football attendance over the centuries," Chapters, in: Ruud H. Koning & Stefan Kesenne (ed.), A Modern Guide to Sports Economics, chapter 3, pages 21-43, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    • Handle: RePEc:elg:eechap:19238_3
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    Cited by:

    1. Sarah Jewell & J. James Reade & Carl Singleton, 2020. "It's Just Not Cricket: The Uncontested Toss and the Gentleman's Game," Economics Discussion Papers em-dp2020-10, Department of Economics, University of Reading.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Economics and Finance;

    JEL classification:

    • N0 - Economic History - - General
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

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