Football and Finance

Abstract

For many years now, economists and financial analysts have taken a close interest in
football. By virtue of its pre-eminent position in the sports entertainment economy,
football raises a number of questions which are of interest to researchers, and also
provides opportunities to test new research hypotheses. I begin this article with an
overview of the economic models employed by professional clubs, before reviewing
the existing literature dealing with the relationship between financial performance
and sporting results. The third section of the article looks at the floating of football
clubs on the stock market, and the impact of sporting results on stock market indicators.
I then discuss the stakes surrounding governance and regulation of football
clubs. The final section provides an overview of the existing literature on the
valuation of players’ contracts. In my conclusion, I seek to highlight some potential
avenues for new research into the issue of finance in football.