A Two-Stage Double Bootstrap DEA: The Case of the Top 25 European Football Clubs' Efficiency Levels

Introduction. Modern football is characterized by increasing trends in migration and transfer activity in the leading European football leagues and a decrease in the number of students of their own children's and youth academies of the leading football clubs of the European Championships for the period 2009-2019. The aim of the study is to investigate and determine the level of financial support for the migration of qualified players in leading European clubs on the basis of their transfer activities (according to open sources). Material and methods: analysis and generalization of data of scientific and methodical literature sources and the Internet, pedagogical observations, content analysis of materials of official websites of football clubs, UEFA and FIFA, methods of mathematical statistics. Results. In the «TOP-20» ranking of leading European football clubs at the end of 2019 in terms of total transfer costs, which determine the migration of qualified players, there is the following distribution: «Barclays Premier League» (England) – 8 football clubs (40%) with transfer costs € 4,726 million (43,40%); «Liga de Futbol Profesional, Primera Division» (Spain) – 4 football clubs (20%) with transfer costs of 2415 million € (22,17%); «Lega Nazionale Professionisti Serie A TIM» (Italy) – 4 football clubs (20%) with transfer costs of € 1,816 million (16,67%); «Le championnat de France de football» (France) – 2 football clubs (10%) with transfer costs of 1261 million € (11,58%); «Fußball-Bundesliga» (Germany) – 2 football clubs (10%) with a transfer cost of € 673 million (6,18%). Conclusions. Analysis of the structure of profits «TOP-20» ranking of leading European clubs, shows that the average is: about 44% – the sale of rights to telecast competitions, about 40% – advertising revenue and about 16% is the share of revenue from tickets and season tickets. Indicators of financial activity of leading European football clubs are monitored by UEFA and FIFA programs for compliance with the requirements and criteria of financial «Fair Play».

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Career patterns of marketing managers in top European football clubs

International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship ◽

10.1108/ijsms-05-2021-0104 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Karolina Nessel

Keyword(s):

Sports Management ◽

Career Patterns ◽

Content Type ◽

Marketing Managers ◽

Football Clubs ◽

European Football ◽

Main Activity ◽

The Individual ◽

Functional Experience ◽

Football Industry

PurposeThe goal of this research was to explore career patterns of senior marketing managers in the best European football clubs (SMMEFCs).Design/methodology/approachThe data came from the LinkedIn profiles of current and past SMMEFCs. Firstly, the optimal matching algorithm was used to determine clusters of pathways leading to a first SMMEFC position based on the main activity of the employing organisation. Secondly, these patterns were compared in terms of variables depicting the career paths, clubs and managers. Finally, the evolution of the post-SMMEFC careers was analysed.FindingsPeople in their first SMMEFC positions are mainly male with a university degree in business and marketing, and with a predominantly functional experience in marketing. There are five ways to become an SMMEFC: through business (40% of the sample), football (32%), other sports (11%), marketing and communication (11%), and media (6%). As the majority of SMMEFCs come to their positions from outside the sporting world, the specificity of the football industry is not a serious obstacle. Instead, the careers are bounded by functional marketing experience. Among the individual sequences leading to a first SMMEFC position, only around half of the football cluster may be considered traditional careers. Football, and sports in general, seem attractive for post-SMMEFC career development for the majority of managers coming from all pathways.Originality/valueThe study is the first one to quantify career patterns in professional sports management. It provides new insights about marketing careers and practice in European club football.

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