Satellite television and football attendance: the not so super effect

Abstract

Previous studies of football attendance in England have produced contradictory results as to the effects of live satellite television coverage of football matches on the attendance of the televised matches. Using attendance data of Aston Villa Football Club's home matches in the Premier League from the 1995/96 season to the 2000/01 season, this note estimates a semi-logarithmic function of attendance. The results highlight a significant negative impact on attendance of live satellite television coverage of 7.75%, ceteris paribus, and also suggest that the England national team's performances are important in affecting attendance at Premier League games. Despite concentrating on only one club, this investigation brings into question what effect the new television rights just announced for the next three seasons may have on attendance.

Acknowledgement

My thanks go to Aston Villa Football Club for their kind donation of information.

Notes

¹ Previous studies have found that early games in a season could have a positive or a negative effect on attendance. Wilson and Sim (1995) found significantly increased attendances for the first game of the season in the Malaysian Semi-Professional football league for 1989–1991, while Peel and Thomas (1988) found significantly lower attendances, ceteris paribus, in all four professional English leagues for the first two weeks of the 1981/82 season.

² The effect of an England draw in a qualifying match will depend on the quality of the opposition. For example, if England were expected to have beaten the team easily, then this could have a detrimental effect on attendance.

³ Premier League attendance has been rising each season, with more than 12.5m attending Premier League games in the 2000/01 season. (www.4thegame.com).