The effects of participation in European competitions on the domestic competitiveness of Polish football clubs
Abstract
Objective: The objective of this study was to establish whether participation in European football competitions affects the sports performance of Polish football clubs in the domestic league. Accordingly, negative short-term effects and positive medium-term effects were hypothesized.
Research Design & Methods: Based on the case of Polish Ekstraklasa, observations covering a 10-year competition period (seasons 2011/12 to 2020/21) were tested in regression models that included the league points and positions in the table as dependent variables and participation in the European UEFA competition and promotion to the group stage as explanatory variables.
Findings: The results revealed that if a Polish football club competes in European competitions, there are neither negative consequences for its domestic competitiveness in the short run nor positive consequences in the medium-term period.
Implications & Recommendations: Every season, football teams throughout Europe make an effort to internationalize themselves through UEFA competitions. This study demonstrates to sports managers that, contrary to common belief, engaging limited resources of football clubs outside the top leagues to compete in two competitions simultaneously has neutral effect.
Contribution & Value Added: To date, researchers have been interested in determining the influence of international competitions on the level of competitive balance. This is the first study on the impact of participation in European UEFA competitions on sports performance in domestic leagues outside Western Europe.
Keywords
competitive imbalance; financial fair-play (FFP); resource-based view (RBV); sport performance; sports clubs; UEFA
References
minut.pl (2022). Archiwum, Retrieved June 26, 2022, from http://www.90minut.pl/szukaj.php
Ahtiainen, S., & Jarva, H. (2022). Has UEFA’s financial fair play regulation increased football clubs’ profitability?. European Sport Management Quarterly, 22(4), 569-587. https://doi.org/10.1080/16184742.2020.1820062
Andreff, W. (2007). French football: A financial crisis rooted in weak governance. Journal of Sports Economics, 8(6), 652-661. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527002506297021
Andreff, W. (2018). Financial and Sporting Performance in French Football Ligue 1 : Influence on the Players’ Market. International Journal of Financial Studies, 6(4), 91-118. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijfs6040091
Andreff, W., & Bourg, J.-F. (2006). Broadcasting rights and competition in European football. In C. Jeanrenaud & S. Késenne (Eds.), The economics of sport and the media (pp. 37-70). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Barajas, Á., & Rodríguez, P. (2010). Spanish football clubs’ finances: Crisis and player salaries. International Journal of Sport Finance, 5(1), 52-66.
Barney, J. (1991). Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 17(1), 99-120. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920639101700108
Barros, C. P., Assaf, A. G., & de Araujo Jr, A. F. (2011). Cost performance of Brazilian soccer clubs: A Bayesian varying efficiency distribution model. Economic Modelling, 28(6), 2730-2735. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2011.08.002
Barros, C. P., & Leach, S. (2006). Performance evaluation of the English Premier Football League with data envelopment analysis. Applied Economics, 38(12), 1449-1458. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036840500396574
Barros, C. P., Wanke, P., & Figueiredo, O. (2015). The Brazilian Soccer Championship: an efficiency analysis. Applied Economics, 47(9), 906-915. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2014.982857
Bauer, H. H., Stokburger-Sauer, N. E., & Exler, S. (2008). Brand Image and Fan Loyalty in Professional Team Sport : A Refined Model and Empirical Assessment. Journal of Sport Management, 22, 205-226. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.22.2.205
Birkhäuser, S., Kaserer, C., & Urban, D. (2019). Did UEFA’s financial fair play harm competition in European football leagues?. Review of Managerial Science, 13(1), 113-145. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11846-017-0246-z
Bullough, S. (2018). UEFA champions league revenues, performance and participation 2003-2004 to 2016-2017. Managing Sport and Leisure, 23(1-2), 139-156. https://doi.org/10.1080/23750472.2018.1513341
Caruso, R., Di Domizio, M., & Rossignoli, D. (2017). Aggregate wages of players and performance in Italian Serie A. Economia Politica, 34(3), 515-531. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40888-017-0062-6
Deloitte Sports Business Group (2022). Football Money League, Deloitte. Retrieved June 26, 2022, from https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/uk/Documents/sports-business-group/deloitte-uk-dfml22.pdf
Dietl, H. M., Franck, E., & Lang, M. (2008). Overinvestment in team sports leagues: A contest theory model. Scottish Journal of Political Economy, 55(3), 353-368. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9485.2008.00457.x
Dimitropoulos, P., & Scafarto, V. (2021). The impact of UEFA financial fair play on player expenditures, sporting success and financial performance: evidence from the Italian top league. European Sport Management Quarterly, 21(1), 20-38. https://doi.org/10.1080/16184742.2019.1674896
Franck, E. (2010). Private firm, public corporation or member’s association governance structures in European football. International Journal of Sport Finance, 5(2), 108.
Franck, E., & Lang, M. (2014). A theoretical analysis of the influence of money injections on risk taking in football clubs. Scottish Journal of Political Economy, 61(4), 430-454. https://doi.org/10.1111/sjpe.12052
Francois, A., Dermit-Richard, N., Plumley, D., Wilson, R., & Heutte, N. (2021). The effectiveness of UEFA Financial Fair Play: evidence from England and France, 2008-2018. Sport, Business and Management, Vol. 12 No. 3, pp. 342-362. https://doi.org/10.1108/SBM-03-2021-0024
Frick, B. (2009). Globalization and Factor Mobility: The Impact of the “Bosman-Ruling” on Player Migration in Professional Soccer. Journal of Sports Economics, 10(1), 88-106. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527002508327399
Gallagher, R., & Quinn, B. (2020). Regulatory own goals: The unintended consequences of economic regulation in professional football. European Sport Management Quarterly, 20(2), 151-170. https://doi.org/10.1080/16184742.2019.1588344
Garcia-del-Barrio, P., & Rossi, G. (2020). How the UEFA Financial Fair Play regulations affect football clubs’ priorities and leagues’ competitive balance?. European Journal of Government and Economics, 9(2), 119-142. https://doi.org/10.17979/ejge.2020.9.2.5842
Gasparetto, T., & Barajas, A. (2018). The determinants of sporting success in the Brazilian football league. International Journal of Sport Finance, 13(2), 183-197.
Ghio, A., Ruberti, M., & Verona, R. (2019). Financial constraints on sport organizations’ cost efficiency: The impact of financial fair play on Italian soccer clubs. Applied Economics, 51(24), 2623-2638. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2018.1558348
Hall, S., Szymanski, S., & Zimbalist, A. S. (2002). Testing Causality Between Team Performance and Payroll: The Cases of Major League Baseball and English Soccer. Journal of Sports Economics, 3(2), 149-168. https://doi.org/10.1177/152700250200300204
Iwankiewicz, M. (2021). Pucharowy pocałunek śmierci istnieje. Czesław Michniewicz tylko wpisał się w trend. TVP Sport. Retrieved June 26, 2022, from https://sport.tvp.pl/56571735/europejskie-puchary-powodem-zwolnien-trenerow-w-polsce-czeslaw-michniewicz-wpisal-sie-w-trend-pucharowy-pocalunek-smierci-istnieje.
Kesenne, S. (2015). The growing gap between small-and large-country football teams in Europe. In Ethics and Governance in Sport (pp. 137-144). Routledge.
Késenne, S. (2000). Revenue sharing and competitive balance in professional team sports. Journal of Sports Economics, 1(1), 56-65. https://doi.org/10.1177/152700250000100105
Lago-Peñas, C., Lago-Peñas, S., & Lago, I. (2019). Player migration and soccer performance. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 616. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00616
Lang, M., Grossmann, M., & Theiler, P. (2011). The sugar daddy game: how wealthy investors change competition in professional team sports. Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE)/Zeitschrift Für Die Gesamte Staatswissenschaft, 557-577.
Lubaś, M. (2020). Równowaga konkurencyjna europejskich lig piłkarskich. In J. Batorski & S. Kościółek (Eds.), Zarządzanie z kodeksem: młodzi o sporcie 2020 (pp. 21-34). Kraków: Uniwersytet Jagielloński Instytut Przedsiębiorczości.
Maclean, F., Cordina, R., & Gannon, M. J. (2022). Caught in a trap? Financial Fair Play Regulations and the case of Scottish football. Qualitative Research in Financial Markets, 14(4), 584-601. https://doi.org/10.1108/QRFM-02-2021-0031
Macmillan, P., & Smith, I. (2007). Explaining International Soccer Rankings. Journal of Sports Economics, 8(2), 202-213. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527002505279344
Norbäck, P. J., Olsson, M., & Persson, L. (2021). Talent development and labour market integration in European football. World Economy, 44(2), 367-408. https://doi.org/10.1111/twec.13071
Omondi-Ochieng, P. (2019). Resource-based theory of college football team competitiveness. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 27(4), 834-856. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOA-04-2018-1403
Pawlowski, T., Breuer, C., & Hovemann, A. (2010). Top clubs’ performance and the competitive situation in european domestic football competitions. Journal of Sports Economics, 11(2), 186-202. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527002510363100
Peeters, T., & Szymanski, S. (2014). Financial fair play in European football. Economic Policy, 29(78), 343-390. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0327.12031
Pitts, J. D. (2016). Determinants of Success in the National Football League’s Postseason: How Important Is Previous Playoff Experience? Journal of Sports Economics, 17(1), 86-111. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527002514525409
Plumley, D., Ramchandani, G.M. and Wilson, R. (2019), The unintended consequence of Financial Fair Play: An examination of competitive balance across five European football leagues, Sport, Business and Management, 9(2), 118-133. https://doi.org/10.1108/SBM-03-2018-0025
Polska-pilka (2022). Tabela wszech czasów ekstraklasy: 1927 – 2021/22. Polska Piłka Nożna. Retrieved June 26, 2022, from https://polska-pilka.pl/pilka-ligowa/zestawienia-i-tabele/tabela-wszech-czasow-ekstraklasy-1927-2021-22-jesien
Rohde, M., & Breuer, C. (2016). Europe’s Elite Football: Financial Growth, Sporting Success, Transfer Investment, and Private Majority Investors. International Journal of Financial Studies, 4(2), 12-32. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijfs4020012
Rohde, M., & Breuer, C. (2018). Competing by investments or efficiency? Exploring financial and sporting efficiency of club ownership structures in European football. Sport Management Review, 21(5), 563-581. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smr.2018.01.001
Ruta, D., Lorenzon, L., Lolli, N. and Gorlero, P.G. (2022), The impact of money prizes from UEFA competitions on clubs’ national performance, Sport, Business and Management, 12(1), 77-92. https://doi.org/10.1108/SBM-03-2021-0036
Sass, M. (2016). Glory Hunters, Sugar Daddies, and Long-Term Competitive Balance Under UEFA Financial Fair Play. Journal of Sports Economics, 17(2), 148-158. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527002514526412
Serrano, R., Acero, I., Farquhar, S. and Espitia Escuer, M.A. (2022), Financial fair play and competitive balance in European football: a long term perspective, Sport, Business and Management, ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/SBM-05-2021-0060
Simmons, R., & Deutscher, C. (2012). The economics of the World Cup. The Economics of Sports, 449-469.
Sloane, P. J. (1971). The Economics of Professional Football: The Football Club as a Utility Maximizer. Scottish Journal Of Political Economy, 17, 121-146.
Springham, M., Williams, S., Waldron, M., Strudwick, A. J., Mclellan, C., & Newton, R. U. (2020). Prior workload has moderate effects on high-intensity match performance in elite-level professional football players when controlling for situational and contextual variables. Journal of Sports Sciences, 38(20), 2279-2290. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2020.1778355
Tovar, J. (2020). Performance, Diversity and National Identity Evidence from Association Football. Economic Inquiry, 58(2), 897-916. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecin.12861
Transfermarkt (2022). PKO Ekstraklasa. Retrieved June 26, 2022, from https://www.transfermarkt.pl/pko-ekstraklasa/startseite/wettbewerb/PL1
Wyszyński, A. (2016). Efficiency of Football Clubs in Poland. Olsztyn Economic Journal, 11(1), 59-72. https://doi.org/10.31648/oej.2902
UEFA (2021). UEFA Financial Report 2019/20. Retrieved June 26, 2022, from https://editorial.uefa.com/resources/0268-1215a6daaf78-a6ca16cd1df1-1000/04_uefa_financial_report_2019-20_en.pdf
UEFA (2022). The European Club Footballing Landscape. Retrieved June 26, 2022, from https://editorial.uefa.com/resources/0272-145b03c04a9e-26dc16d0c545-1000/master_bm_high_res_20220203104923.pdf
Vöpel, H. (2011). Do we really need financial fair play in european club football? an economic analysis. CESifo DICE Report, 9(3), 54-59.
Jagiellonian University in Poland Poland
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7705-4216
Assistant Professor at the Institute of Entrepreneurship of Jagiellonian University (Poland). PhD in management (2022, Jagiellonian University). His research interests include both sports economics and management, specifically, the areas of sectoral policies, consumer behaviours, and competitiveness.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
1. The author agrees to publish his article free of charge in the journal "International Entrepreneurship Review" (IER) in the language of the above publication (English). The editorial staff reserves the right to shorten texts and to change titles.
2. The journal allows the authors to keep their copyrights (the copyright) in accordance with the license: Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 from 2023 (since vol. 9, no 1). By the end of 2022 we published under Creative Commons CC BY-ND 4.0.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) only the final version of the article, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access). We advise to use any of the following research society portals:
- ResearchGate
- SSRN
- Academia.edu
- Selected Works
- Academic Search
