Competitive Balance and Revenue in Professional Football Leagues

Comparative Study between the United Kingdom and Japan

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the relationship between the competitive balance and revenue of each team in the English and Japanese professional football leagues. Specifically, we used the standard deviation of team winning percentages and the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index to measure the degree of competitive balance, and attempted to determine its relationship with revenue using regression analysis. The results revealed that increase in revenue and competitive balance were positively correlated only for J1, the leading division of the Japan Professional Football League.