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Competitive Balance and Match Attendance in European Rugby Union Leagues
Date Issued
2012-10
Date Available
2012-11-02T17:45:46Z
Abstract
The paper analyses the impact of the relatively belated move to
professionalism in Rugby Union. We use data on match attendance for 3,667 fixtures
in European club Rugby over 15 seasons to estimate the effect of competitive balance
on attendance. We find that (short- and medium-term) competitive balance has a large
and statistically significant effect. However, this effect is smaller in magnitude than
the effect brought about by the other aspects of the fixture with the strength of the
home team being the single most important influence on attendances.
professionalism in Rugby Union. We use data on match attendance for 3,667 fixtures
in European club Rugby over 15 seasons to estimate the effect of competitive balance
on attendance. We find that (short- and medium-term) competitive balance has a large
and statistically significant effect. However, this effect is smaller in magnitude than
the effect brought about by the other aspects of the fixture with the strength of the
home team being the single most important influence on attendances.
Sponsorship
Not applicable
Type of Material
Working Paper
Publisher
University College Dublin. School of Economics
Series
UCD Centre for Economic Research Working Paper Series
WP12/26
Subject – LCSH
Rugby Union football--Economic aspects
Professionalism in sports--Economic aspects
Rugby Union football matches--Statistics
Web versions
Language
English
Status of Item
Not peer reviewed
This item is made available under a Creative Commons License
File(s)
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Name
WP12_26.pdf
Size
215.46 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
bc38ace498e366361ebc54fc8b111115
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