Articles in this issue:

• French 75% Tax Rate: An Opportunity to Optimize the Attractiveness of the French Soccer League

  Mickael Terrien

  Nicolas Scelles

  and Christophe Durand

  This paper analyzes the impact of the French 75% income tax rate on the attractiveness of the French soccer league. The concerns are less about its financial implications for clubs than about the possible decrease in its attractiveness. A classical model of professional team sport leagues is employed to measure the Nash equilibrium competitive balance and the stock of talent to assess the effect of the new taxation. We then propose two hypotheses corresponding to specific situations in the French soccer league: “social and fiscal disparities between clubs” and “sugar daddy” behavior. The...Read more

• Human Capital, Formal Qualifications, and Income of Elite Sport Coaches

  Pamela Wicker

  Johannes Orlowski

  and Christoph Breuer

  This study examines the effect of various formal qualifications on the income of elite sport coaches in less commercialized sports. Elite sport coaches (i.e., coaches who are at least partially funded by the federal government) were surveyed online (n=186). Altogether, they reported 65 different formal qualifications that could be summarized into eleven categories. The regression results show that only a university degree in sport sciences has a significant positive effect on monthly net income, while various coaching licenses, diplomas, certificates, and formations are...Read more

• The 2011 NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement and Drafted Player Compensation

  Quinn A. W. Keefer

  We examine the effect of the 2011 collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the National Football League owners and the Players Association on drafted player compensation. The 2011 CBA made two major changes to the rules governing drafted player compensation. First, a rookie wage scale, based on selection number and round, was introduced. Second, there was a limit placed on compensation growth of 25% of year-one salary. We find the rookie wage scale actually increased the compensation of players selected in the first two rounds of the draft. However, the limit on compensation growth...Read more

• The Pitfalls of Econometric Tests of the Uncertainty of Outcome Hypothesis: Interdependence of Variables, Imperfect Proxies, and Unstable Parabols

  Łukasz Skrok

  A substantial number of empirical analyses of attendance at team sports events have been devoted to testing the uncertainty of outcome hypothesis, according to which the interest of fans is positively influenced by the degree of uncertainty of an outcome. The results, however, have turned out to be inconclusive. This article examines a possible explanation based on the flaws of the testing method. I show that results consistent with the uncertainty of outcome hypothesis can be obtained even when attendance is solely determined by the quality of the competing teams. The reason for this is...Read more

• If You Can’t Pay Them, Play Them: Fan Preferences and Own-Race Bias in the WNBA

  Jill Harris and David J. Berri

  During the 2010–2014 seasons, non-white players with non-white coaches played 4.81 fewer minutes per game on average than white players in the WNBA. This difference in playing time is not due to player endowments. A control for the percentage of the white population suggests fan preferences could contribute to coaching decisions about playing time allocation. No evidence of own-race bias is found. As the first investigation into bias in the WNBA, this paper contributes to the growing literature on discrimination in professional sports.Read more