Football league brands: consumer perceptions and the role of competitive balance

PurposeThis study discovers the perceptions and preferences of Chinese fans of the European major football leagues. China has a large potential sports consumption market, and football has the largest number of fans among all the sports in China. Knowing the needs of foreign fans would help the leagues to decide the most efficient and competitive strategies.Design/methodology/approachThe research involves quantitative methods and analysis to show the Chinese fans' attraction to different football leagues in Europe. The principal component analysis (PCA) is used to extract important factors of the survey data, and the multiple regression, ordinary least square (OLS) method is used to understand the contribution of different factors to the fan size. The outcomes of different performances of the leagues are compared to further evaluate the different strategies.FindingsThe results of the analysis show that Chinese fans tend to support clubs that offer more competitive matches. The market value of the club's players is used as a mediating proxy indicator to evaluate the club's competitiveness. Leagues with higher uncertainty around championship wins attract more followers. The findings suggest that league balance, champion-winner uncertainty and club competitiveness attract a larger fan base and raise league market value, both important factors in creating financially sustainable football leagues with robust product lifecycles. Fans prefer balanced leagues to monopolistic clubs.Originality/valueUnlike most past football research involving quantitative analysis, this research uses quantitative analysis to discover the relationships between the sports factors and the fans' size. The empirical evidence could deliver more objective and robust results. The research further discusses and extends the importance of a balanced football league from the sports and league management aspects to the economics level.