Spanish Professional Football Research Articles

Assessing the causal impact of the 3-point per victory scoring system in the competitive balance of LaLiga

Abstract Competitive balance is a key concept in sport because it creates an uncertainty on the outcome that leads to increased interest and demand for these events. The Spanish Professional Football League (LaLiga) has been one of the top European leagues in the last decade, and it has given rise to a particular research interest regarding its characteristics and structure. Since season 1995/96, LaLiga changed the number of points given to the winning teams, by awarding three points per victory instead of two. In this paper, we assess the impact of such a change on the competitive balance of LaLiga. Our analysis focuses on teams with varying levels of performance and follows a three-step approach. First, we cluster the teams according to their historical performance using an adjusted measure based on their credible intervals of winning ratios. Second, we calculate Kendall’s tau coefficient (according to our adjusted measure) in order to obtain the overall ranking turnover of teams between consecutive seasons. Third, we assess the causal impact of the adoption of the new scoring system, based on Kendall’s tau coefficients, for each cluster of teams. Our results show that the overall competitive balance decreased after the adoption of the new scoring system. However, the impact was not the same for all teams, being more significant for top teams and less significant for bottom teams. Moreover, our predictions using adjusted ARIMA models indicate that this difference in the competitive balance will persist for future seasons.

La competición en el diseño de las tareas de entrenamiento y la competitividad en la formación del jugador joven de fútbol

Professional football is a results-oriented sport where competitiveness is a requirement for every single player who wants to excel at the highest level of competition. In this research, a competitive profile was established for the members of an U-18 team that belongs to a Spanish professional football club structure by means of the competitiveness-10 questionnaire. A competitiveness-results relationship was checked in a four-month competition timeframe in the area of training skills that were capable of being designed, or not, under the umbrella of a competitive structure, and during the league matches. Furthermore, it was observed that football players, who gave the best results during training sessions, were allowed to play more minutes in league matches, without the trainer being aware of the research results beforehand. This conclusion validates the relationship between competitiveness and high performance, improving the training process in this way.

Is Efficient to Play in First Division? Influence of Promotion and Relegation in the Technical Efficiency of the Spanish Professional Football Teams

The goal of any practice or physical education class is typically to enhance and optimize performance in the skills of interest. However, it is sometimes difficult for students to have a sound understanding of the movement tasks and how to alter their performance based on verbal feedback alone. With access to portable electronic devices growing rapidly, it is not uncommon for most people to have a cell phone or tablet readily available. Instead of banishing these devices from the facility, there may be an opportunity to use these devices to better convey points of interest from the instructor to the student. A single Physical Education class was used to trial the use of video feedback combined with the traditional verbal feedback following a forward roll sequence for grade. After reviewing the video footage and receiving verbal feedback from their instructor, students not only improved their scores but also gained confidence in their abilities. The use of personal electronic devices can allow students to see what the instructor sees in order to optimize their performance. By allowing such devices in the classroom (whether it’s the instructor’s or students’) for instructional purposes only, students can begin to identify and correct any flaws to their routine or movement skills as early as possible..

Is Efficient to Play in First Division? Influence of Promotion and Relegation in the Technical Efficiency of the Spanish Professional Football Teams

Is Efficient to Play in First Division? Influence of Promotion and Relegation in the Technical Efficiency of the Spanish Professional Football Teams

State aid for professional football clubs and sports infrastructure

On 4 July 2016, the European Commission concluded its investigation into alleged State aid given to several Dutch and Spanish professional football clubs. The central question that the Commission had to decide in each case was whether the behaviour of the Dutch and Spanish authorities had been in line with the so-called ‘Market Economy Operator’ test. With the exception of two Dutch football clubs, the Commission found that all clubs under investigation had been the recipient of State aid, which in respect of the Spanish clubs was not compatible with the internal market.

Muscle injuries in the academy of a Spanish professional football club: A one-year prospective study

IntroductionDue to its high incidence, muscle injury is one of the major problems for football players. The aim was to analyse the rate and characteristics of muscle injuries in the academy of a Spanish professional football team (Spanish First Division) during a complete competitive season (2015–2016) using a prospective cohort design. Material and methodsTime-loss injuries and exposure time were recorded following the UEFA consensus in 139 elite young football players from 4 levels (Senior, U19, U16 and U14) over one season. ResultsA total of 118 injuries were recorded. Overall injury incidence was 1.47 muscle injuries/1000h, with a lower incidence in younger players. Nevertheless, injury burden (days lost/1000h) was similar between levels. The injuries with the highest incidence and burden were hamstring and adductor injuries in Senior (50 and 58 days respectively), hamstring injuries in U19 and U16 (109 vs 89), and adductor injuries in U14 (175 days). Regarding the severity of injuries, it was observed that moderate injuries were the most common injuries and muscle injuries during competition had a higher incidence towards the end of the matches (75–90′). ConclusionsMuscle injury prevention strategies are necessary in players from all levels and should be adapted to their specific needs, with hamstring and adductor injuries being the main problem in the present study.

The business of stadia: Maximizing the use of Spanish Football venues

In 2014, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid presented a project for the remodelling of their stadia. The new stadia of both clubs will be, not only a place to attend live sports events, but also somewhere fans will be able to consume both football brands permanently, every moment of the day. Currently, stadia have become commodities themselves. At a time when TV rights in Spain were thrown into crisis, sports organizations understand that sports venues allow them to create other significant income sources that could help them to increase their season’s turnover. Hospitality and events packages, for example, are part of this leisure product that professional football clubs offer in their venues. The aim of this article is to analyse how Spanish professional football clubs attempt to maximize the use of their stadiums, and how these venues are also part of a wider city branding strategy for the host cities. Data for this qualitative research are taken from the Spanish football clubs that have UEFA Category 4 stadia: FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atlético de Madrid, Atletic Club de Bilbao, Málaga CF, Real Sociedad, RCD Espanyol and València CF.

Incidencia lesional en el fútbol profesional español a lo largo de una temporada: días de baja por lesión

Football is a sport with a high incidence of injuries. A descriptive study was conducted during the 2008-2009 season with the purpose of determining the origins of the injuries in Spanish professional football, and the number of days lost as a result of each type of injury in this sport. A previously validated REINLE questionnaire was used to record the information. The recorded exposure to training and competition amounted to a total of 244,835hours of practice which produced 2184 injuries, an injury rate of 8.94 injuries per 1000hours of exposure. Each team had 80.89 injuries and 909 lost-time days per season. By injury typology we observed that muscle tears caused the most lost time (267.2 days lost per team per season) followed by ligament injuries (182.1 days lost per team per season). The most frequently injured muscle was the biceps femoris muscle (3.3 injuries per team per season). The femoral rectus muscle also caused the highest number of days lost (76.6 days per season per team). As far as ligaments are concerned, the external lateral ligament of the ankle-joint was the most affected structure, with an injury frequency of 3.7 injuries per team per season, while the internal lateral ligament of the knee accounted for more lost time (43.7 days per season per team). We can conclude that football is a sport with a high incidence of injuries, causing a large number of lost-time days during a season.

Mujer y comunicación en el fútbol español

El presente artículo intenta conocer el rol que las mujeres ejercen en un ámbito deportivo de gran calado como es el fútbol español. Para ello, el estudio se centra en su función dentro de los organigramas de los equipos de Primera y Segunda División así como en la investigación del clima de comunicación interna existente en dichas entidades deportivas. La gran importancia que posee este deporte, tanto por su capacidad de movilización de masas como por ser motor de inyección de ingentes cantidades de dinero, así como el papel que la mujer desempeña en la sociedad actual, justifican la elección de esta temática. La investigación se ha basado en el análisis cuantitativo y cualitativo de entrevistas y cuestionarios a más de cuarenta mujeres que trabajan dentro de los principales clubes de fútbol españoles profesionales. Los resultados del estudio no son muy esperanzadores pues la mujer aún hoy no forma parte del paisaje público de igual forma que lo hace el hombre.

Effects of game location and final outcome on game-related statistics in each zone of the pitch in professional football

The aim of this large-scale study of elite professional football teams was to identify the independent and interactive effects of game location and final outcome on football game-related statistics according to the zone of the pitch in which they occurred. The sample consisted of 1900 games played over five seasons (from 2003–2004 to 2007–2008) of the Spanish Professional Football League. Factor analysis with principal components was applied to the game-related statistics recorded from the games, which limited the analysis to four factors (Factor 1: Turnovers in zone 5.2 and Crosses in zone 4; Factor 2: Goals and shots in zone 5.1, Turnovers in zone 4, and Ball recover in zone 2; Factor 3: Goals and shots in zone 5.2; and Factor 4: Turnovers in zone 5.1). Zone 2 was between the defensive semi-circle area and midfield circle, Zone 4 was between the midfield circle and offensive semi-circle area, Zone 5.1 was the offensive goal area, and Zone 5.2 was the offensive small area). A mixed linear model was applied to identify the effects of game location and final outcome on the previously identified factors. Game location and final outcome main effects were identified for all factors, with home and winning teams having better values. The interaction Location×Outcome was only significant for Factor 4 (Turnovers in zone 5.1). When playing at home, teams had higher frequencies for all analysed variables, probably resulting from home advantage factors such as facility familiarity and/or crowd. Additionally, winning teams’ exhibited different and consistent profiles from drawing and losing teams, mainly discriminated by their ability to recover the ball in Zone 2 and to organize the offence using penetrative passes to Zones 5.2 and 5.1 to increase the number of shots and consequently goals. The trends identified may provide important information for modelling high-level performances.

Does a red shirt improve sporting performance? Evidence from Spanish football

Recent research has linked red shirts to sporting success. In this article, we analyse the relationship between the colour red and sporting performance in the Spanish Professional Football League. Our foremost conclusion is that once the effect of the different endowments of resources and the ability of managers have been discounted, teams with red shirts do not show greater performance than teams wearing shirts of other colours.

Modeling attendance at Spanish professional football league

Prediction of demand for professional sports is increasingly drawing the attention of economists. We apply linear mixed models for modeling attendance figures at Spanish professional football. We investigate economic variables, such as the price of the tickets or the size of the market, and sporting variables, such as the quality of a team or the level of competition within the league, as potential predictors of attendance. It turns out that a model with temporally correlated random team effects provides good forecasts of attendance at a time horizon of two seasons. Results from this model agree with economic theory.

Does playing several competitions influence a team’s league performance? Evidence from Spanish professional football

The sporting performance of professional football teams has often been assessed considering their results in the major regular competition, namely the national league. Here, we show that evaluating league performance without controlling for extra games played in other competitions might produce misleading results. Using Data Envelopment Analysis, we assess the performance of Spanish professional football teams in the League controlling for the extra games played in the King’s Cup, Champions League and UEFA Cup. Results show that assessing performance omitting extra games underestimates teams’ true performance in the League, the more extra games played leading to greater bias. Consequently, the multioutput nature of football must be considered when assessing team performance.

Can We Be Satisfied With Our Football Team? Evidence From Spanish Professional Football

This article assesses the sporting performance of Spanish professional football teams at competition level, namely, League, King’s Cup, and European competitions (Champions League and Union of European Football Associations [UEFA] Cup). Then, the gap between the result obtained by a team at the end of a season and that expected according to its potential is used as a proxy of the degree of satisfaction that fans should feel: the narrower the gap the greater the level of satisfaction. Regarding methodology, Data Envelopment Analysis techniques and directional distance functions are used. Results reveal that most teams perform rather differently across competitions, the lower average performance corresponding to the King’s Cup.

An Analysis of Home Advantage in the Top Two Spanish Professional Football Leagues

This study examines the effect of the points system on home advantage in the two top Spanish professional football divisions between the 1980-1981 and 2006-2007 seasons. From 1980-81, teams were awarded 2 points for a win. This was increased to 3 points starting in 1995-1996. Lower home advantage was expected with the 3-point system as a consequence of encouraging more attacking play from away teams. The results of an analysis of 20,992 games showed no significant differences in home advantage values between the First Division (66.3% before and 62.1% after the 3-point system) and the Second Division (65.6% before and 59.5% after). Nevertheless, there was a significant decrease in home advantage in both the First and Second Divisions after the introduction of the 3-point system. The results were compared with two similar studies of professional football in England.

The Structural Characteristics of Sport Organisations: Differentiation within Elite Spanish Professional Football Clubs

The principal task of a professional football (soccer) club is to form a competitive team that participates in official competitions and achieves the sporting successes expected by its members and fans. This fundamental task constitutes the system which, in relation with its environment, defines subsystems in order to respond efficiently to the contextual challenges faced by the organization. Among these, the processes of professionalization and commercialization have particularly affected sports organizations. The most important subsystems distinguished by a club in Spanish professional football are: sport, communication, external relations, commerce, finance, wealth management, marketing, facilities, and legal and social affairs. All these areas are related to the accomplishment of the above-mentioned main task and some of them can be associated with the organizations' structural response to the challenges of professionalization and commercialization.

Relative age effect in Spanish association football: Its extent and implications for wasted potential

Spain is one of the largest and most successful powers in international youth football, but this success has not extended to the national team. This lack of continued success seems to indicate a loss of potential. The relative age effect has been detected in football in many countries. Understanding the extent of this bias in the youth teams of Spanish elite clubs may help to improve selection processes and reduce the waste of potential. Comparisons between players from: the Spanish Professional Football League, all age categories of these clubs' youth teams, the Under-17 to Under-21 national teams, the national team, and the Spanish population, show a constant tendency to under-represent players from the later months of the selection year at all age groups of youth and Under-17 to Under-21 national teams. Professional and national team players show a similar but diminished behaviour that weakens with ageing, which suggests that talent identification and selection processes can be improved to help better identify potential talent early on and minimize wasted potential.

The Spanish Football Crisis

This article analyses the economic results of Spanish professional football teams using data collected over the past few years. These data differ substantially from the information presented in the annual reports of the “Liga de Fútbol Profesional” (Spanish professional football league), which are obtained from the initial budgets elaborated each season. Special attention is paid to the two most important teams in the Spanish league: Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. The results of this research show that Spanish football has the same problems as those evidenced by the Italian and English football leagues and, therefore, requires similar solutions in order to be able to survive in forthcoming years.

Does Sports Performance Influence Revenues and Economic Results in Spanish Football?

English football began taking steps towards becoming a business earlier than Spanish football did, and academic studies on the football industry to date also focus primarily on football in the UK. The evidence for the relationship between sports performance and revenues appear clear in English football. There is even research about the effects of a club’s wealth on its sports performance, or the effects of a club’s sporting situations on its finances. In this paper, we ana-lyse the relationship between sports performance and the revenues of football clubs as well as the effect of sports performance on the financial results in Spanish professional football. In order to carry out this research we have had to select which variables to analyse and choose the most appropriate methods of measurement. We have designed a system which obtains a variable of sports performance that includes information from every competition in which the foot-ball club participates.

Economic impact of support in Spanish professional football

This paper explains the concept of support as an economic driver of football. It begins with a theoretical approach to the concept of support and a review of the literature relating to support, fan typology and factors that determine attendance at stadia. Next, factors that influence support are explained and a schema for a model of support is proposed. Finally, an analysis is carried out of the influence of attendance on revenues in Spanish professional football clubs.