Handbook on the Economics of Professional Football

In this comprehensive Handbook, John Goddard and Peter Sloane present a collection of analytical contributions by internationally regarded scholars in the field, which extensively examine the many economic challenges facing the world's most popular team sport. The Handbook is naturally divided into four parts: the product market, the labour market, country studies of individual leagues and policy issues. The authors explore why so many football clubs face financial difficulties despite the fact that attendances have risen in many countries, and television and commercial income has increased dramatically. They explain that the labour market is central to understanding these issues, due to trends such as increased bargaining power for the leading players, the acceleration of migration, and the internationalisation of the market for footballing talent at the top level. There is, however, diversity across countries as shown in the six cases of England, France, Italy, the Netherlands, the USA and Japan. Finally, the authors consider the policy issues, including the betting market, refereeing and corruption. This Handbook will appeal to sports economists, as well as those working in football governing bodies and individual clubs, sports journalists, and students of business.