IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/rdg/emxxdp/em-dp2020-09.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Demand for Public Events in the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of European Football

Author

Listed:
  • J. James Reade

    (Department of Economics, University of Reading)

  • Carl Singleton

    (Department of Economics, University of Reading)

Abstract

This study uses data from elite-level European football matches and panel data methods to suggest how people responded to the initial COVID-19 outbreak. In Italy, England and Germany, stadium attendances were negatively affected by the previous day's newly confirmed domestic cases or deaths. In France and Spain, there was no significant attendance response to the early stages of the domestic outbreaks. In all five countries, there was no negative attendance response to the number of worldwide cases or deaths as the outbreak developed. Overall, these results confirm that COVID-19 was affecting football match spectator demand before European countries enforced lockdowns and other restrictions to suppress the spread of the disease. This suggests that fans significantly responded to the risk of catching the virus. If this risk remains when stadiums reopen, then sports organisations should expect reduced ticket demand.

Suggested Citation

  • J. James Reade & Carl Singleton, 2020. "Demand for Public Events in the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of European Football," Economics Discussion Papers em-dp2020-09, Department of Economics, University of Reading, revised 01 Oct 2020.
    • Handle: RePEc:rdg:emxxdp:em-dp2020-09
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.reading.ac.uk/web/FILES/economics/emdp202009.pdf
    File Function: Revised version, 2020
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Charles Stoecker & Nicholas J. Sanders & Alan Barreca, 2016. "Success Is Something to Sneeze At: Influenza Mortality in Cities that Participate in the Super Bowl," American Journal of Health Economics, MIT Press, vol. 2(1), pages 125-143, Winter.
    2. Schreyer, Dominik & Schmidt, Sascha L. & Torgler, Benno, 2016. "Against all odds? Exploring the role of game outcome uncertainty in season ticket holders’ stadium attendance demand," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 192-217.
    3. Dunia Rassy & Richard D. Smith, 2013. "The economic impact of H1N1 on Mexico's tourist and pork sectors," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(7), pages 824-834, July.
    4. Babatunde Buraimo, 2008. "Stadium attendance and television audience demand in English league football," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(6), pages 513-523.
    5. Hsiao-I Kuo & Chia-Lin Chang & Bing-Wen Huang & Chi-Chung Chen & Michael McAleer, 2009. "Estimating the Impact of Avian Flu on International Tourism Demand Using Panel Data," Tourism Economics, , vol. 15(3), pages 501-511, September.
    6. Stephen G. Donald & Kevin Lang, 2007. "Inference with Difference-in-Differences and Other Panel Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 89(2), pages 221-233, May.
    7. Joshua D. Angrist & Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2009. "Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 8769.
    8. Jaume García & Plácido Rodríguez, 2002. "The Determinants of Football Match Attendance Revisited," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 3(1), pages 18-38, February.
    9. Stephen L. Shapiro & Joris Drayer, 2014. "An examination of dynamic ticket pricing and secondary market price determinants in Major League Baseball," Sport Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(2), pages 145-159, April.
    10. David Forrest & Rob Simmons, 2006. "New Issues in Attendance Demand," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 7(3), pages 247-266, August.
    11. Charles Stoecker & Nicholas J. Sanders & Alan Barreca, 2016. "Success Is Something to Sneeze At: Influenza Mortality in Cities that Participate in the Super Bowl," American Journal of Health Economics, MIT Press, vol. 2(1), pages 125-143, January.
    12. Nicolas Frevel & Dominik Schreyer, 2020. "Behavioral responses to terrorist attacks: empirical evidence from professional football," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(3), pages 244-247, February.
    13. Dominik Schreyer & Daniel Däuper, 2018. "Determinants of spectator no-show behaviour: first empirical evidence from the German Bundesliga," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(21), pages 1475-1480, December.
    14. Adam Cox, 2018. "Spectator Demand, Uncertainty of Results, and Public Interest," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 19(1), pages 3-30, January.
    15. Hvattum, Lars Magnus & Arntzen, Halvard, 2010. "Using ELO ratings for match result prediction in association football," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 460-470, July.
    16. Shapiro, Stephen L. & Drayer, Joris, 2014. "An examination of dynamic ticket pricing and secondary market price determinants in Major League Baseball," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 145-159.
    17. Goller, Daniel & Krumer, Alex, 2020. "Let's meet as usual: Do games played on non-frequent days differ? Evidence from top European soccer leagues," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 286(2), pages 740-754.
    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. Svenja Feiler & Christoph Breuer, 2021. "Perceived Threats through COVID-19 and the Role of Organizational Capacity: Findings from Non-Profit Sports Clubs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-24, June.
    2. Barry Reilly & Robert Witt, 2024. "The Effect of League Design on Club Revenues in the Scottish Premier League," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 50(1), pages 1-28, January.
    3. Artur Grabowski, 2021. "Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic and Lockdown on the Activities of European Football Companies," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(Special 3), pages 645-654.
    4. J. James Reade, 2023. "Large Sporting Events and Public Health and Safety," Economics Discussion Papers em-dp2023-04, Department of Economics, University of Reading.
    5. J. James Reade & Dominik Schreyer & Carl Singleton, 2021. "Stadium attendance demand during the COVID-19 crisis: early empirical evidence from Belarus," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(18), pages 1542-1547, October.
    6. Matthew Olczak & J. James Reade & Matthew Yeo, 2020. "Mass Outdoor Events and the Spread of a Virus: English Football and Covid-19," Economics Discussion Papers em-dp2020-19, Department of Economics, University of Reading.
    7. Fischer Kai, 2022. "Thinning out spectators: Did football matches contribute to the second COVID-19 wave in Germany?," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 23(4), pages 595-640, December.
    8. Todd McFall & John Whitehead, 2024. "Measuring the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Elite Swimming Performance," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 25(5), pages 634-656, June.
    9. Vincenzo Alfano, 2022. "COVID-19 Diffusion Before Awareness: The Role of Football Match Attendance in Italy," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 23(5), pages 503-523, June.
    10. Annelies Knoppers & Donna de Haan & Leanne Norman & Nicole LaVoi, 2022. "Elite women coaches negotiating and resisting power in football," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 880-896, May.

    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. Dominik Schreyer, 2019. "Football spectator no-show behaviour in the German Bundesliga," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(45), pages 4882-4901, September.
    2. Dominik Schreyer & Sascha L. Schmidt & Benno Torgler, 2019. "Football Spectator No-Show Behavior," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 20(4), pages 580-602, May.
    3. Besters, Lucas, 2018. "Economics of professional football," Other publications TiSEM d9e6b9b7-a17b-4665-9cca-1, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    4. J. James Reade & Dominik Schreyer & Carl Singleton, 2022. "Eliminating supportive crowds reduces referee bias," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 60(3), pages 1416-1436, July.
    5. J. James Reade & Dominik Schreyer & Carl Singleton, 2020. "Echoes: what happens when football is played behind closed doors?," Economics Discussion Papers em-dp2020-14, Department of Economics, University of Reading.
    6. Schreyer, Dominik & Schmidt, Sascha L. & Torgler, Benno, 2016. "Against all odds? Exploring the role of game outcome uncertainty in season ticket holders’ stadium attendance demand," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 192-217.
    7. Matthew Olczak & J. James Reade & Matthew Yeo, 2020. "Mass Outdoor Events and the Spread of a Virus: English Football and Covid-19," Economics Discussion Papers em-dp2020-19, Department of Economics, University of Reading.
    8. Christian Gjersing Nielsen & Rasmus K. Storm & Tor Georg Jakobsen, 2019. "The impact of English Premier League broadcasts on Danish spectator demand: a small league perspective," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 89(6), pages 633-653, August.
    9. Dominik Schreyer & Sascha L. Schmidt & Benno Torgler, 2018. "Game Outcome Uncertainty in the English Premier League," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 19(5), pages 625-644, June.
    10. Dominik Schreyer & Sascha L. Schmidt & Benno Torgler, 2018. "Predicting season ticket holder loyalty using geographical information," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(4), pages 272-277, February.
    11. Schreyer & Torgler Benno & Schmidt Sascha L., 2018. "Game Outcome Uncertainty and Television Audience Demand: New Evidence from German Football," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 19(2), pages 140-161, May.
    12. Dominik Schreyer & Daniel Däuper, 2018. "Determinants of spectator no-show behaviour: first empirical evidence from the German Bundesliga," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(21), pages 1475-1480, December.
    13. Raul Caruso & Francesco Addesa & Marco Di Domizio, 2019. "The Determinants of the TV Demand for Soccer: Empirical Evidence on Italian Serie A for the Period 2008-2015," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 20(1), pages 25-49, January.
    14. Buraimo, Babatunde & Simmons, Rob, 2009. "A tale of two audiences: Spectators, television viewers and outcome uncertainty in Spanish football," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 61(4), pages 326-338, July.
    15. Selçuk Özaydın, 2018. "Modelling the European Football Demand for the 2014/2015 Season," Yildiz Social Science Review, Yildiz Technical University, vol. 4(1), pages 39-52.
    16. Dominik Schreyer & Sascha L. Schmidt & Benno Torgler, 2017. "Game Outcome Uncertainty and the Demand for International Football Games: Evidence From the German TV Market," Journal of Media Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 31-45, January.
    17. J. James Reade, 2023. "Large Sporting Events and Public Health and Safety," Economics Discussion Papers em-dp2023-04, Department of Economics, University of Reading.
    18. Jaume García & Plácido Rodríguez & Federico Todeschini, 2020. "The Demand for the Characteristics of Football Matches: A Hedonic Price Approach," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 21(7), pages 688-704, October.
    19. Chang Wang & Dries Goossens & Martina Vandebroek, 2018. "The Impact of the Soccer Schedule on TV Viewership and Stadium Attendance," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 19(1), pages 82-112, January.
    20. Pamela Wicker & John C. Whitehead & Bruce K. Johnson & Daniel S. Mason, 2017. "The effect of sporting success and management failure on attendance demand in the Bundesliga: a revealed and stated preference travel cost approach," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(52), pages 5287-5295, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Demand for sport; Stadium attendance; Coronavirus; European Economy; Public Health;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • L83 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Sports; Gambling; Restaurants; Recreation; Tourism
    • Z20 - Other Special Topics - - Sports Economics - - - General

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:rdg:emxxdp:em-dp2020-09. 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: Alexander Mihailov (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/derdguk.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.