Competitive balance versus competitive intensity before a match: Is one of these concepts more relevant in explaining attendance? The case of the French football Ligue 1 over the period 2008-2011

Nicolas Scelles (1) , Christophe Durand (2) , Liliane Bonnal (3) , Daniel Goyeau (4) , Wladimir Andreff (5)

1 Université de Poitiers - Faculté des Sciences du sport
2 CesamS - Centre d'étude sport et actions motrices
3 CRIEF [Poitiers] - Centre de recherche sur l'intégration économique et financière
4 Université de Poitiers - Faculté de Sciences économiques
5 CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne

The aim of this article is to investigate the determinants of attendance at French football Ligue 1 matches over the period 2008–2011 with an emphasis on examining the effects of both competitive balance and intensity before a match. Competitive balance is measured by the point difference between the two teams concerned by a match in the championship. Competitive intensity is measured by the point difference for the home team in relation to ranks with sporting stakes. Results show that competitive balance has an insignificant impact whereas competitive intensity has a significantly positive impact. Implications are drawn.

Mots clés: Sports economics; Competitive balance; Uncertainty of outcome; French football; Competitive intensity; Sporting stakes; Attendance; Ligue 1

Domaines: Economies et finances

Nicolas Scelles, Christophe Durand, Liliane Bonnal, Daniel Goyeau, Wladimir Andreff. Competitive balance versus competitive intensity before a match: Is one of these concepts more relevant in explaining attendance? The case of the French football Ligue 1 over the period 2008-2011. Applied Economics, 2013, 45 (29), pp.4184-4192. ⟨10.1080/00036846.2013.770124⟩. ⟨halshs-00874478⟩