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Club football and economic dynamism: a regional analysis for Europe

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  • David Castells-Quintana

    (Department of Applied Economics, Univ Autonoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain)

  • Roberto Gasquez

    (Department of Economic History, Institutions, Politics and World Economy. Univ de Barcelona, 08034, Barcelona, Spain)

Abstract

The connection between sports and development has long been highlighted in academia and policy debates. But the extent to which the success of professional sport teams can spur economic dynamism has hardly been studied in the literature. In this paper, we look at the potential connection between sporting success and economic development. We focus on club football and economic dynamism in European regions. To do so, we build a unique dataset with information for 395 football clubs, matched with economic information for 295 NUTS3 European regions, for the 2000-2020 period. Using several econometric techniques, we find robust evidence of a positive connection between club success and regional economic performance. This connection seems especially strong when sporting success comes from relatively modest clubs.

Suggested Citation

  • David Castells-Quintana & Roberto Gasquez, 2024. "Club football and economic dynamism: a regional analysis for Europe," Working Papers wpdea2402, Department of Applied Economics at Universitat Autonoma of Barcelona.
    • Handle: RePEc:uab:wprdea:wpdea2402
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    Keywords

    sport; football; regions; Europe; development.;
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