Competitive Balance I

Have you ever wondered why in some sports leagues, some teams appear destined never to win the title, yet other teams appear destined to win it quite frequently? This lecture outlines 'competitive balance' (CB) as being an unusual economic phenomenon specific to the sports industry - that we, as consumers of sport, actually like uncertainty! We define ways of measuring CB, as well as summarising certain policies that can influence the level of CB, while noting some of the possible distortive effects of such policy on the behaviour of certain teams and/or individuals. Copyright 2012 La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Contact for permissions.