Who invests in financial instruments of sport clubs? An empirical analysis of actual and potential individual investors of professional European football clubs

ABSTRACT

Research question: Due to the reinforced conditions of official regulatory credit screening procedures of Basel II and Basel III, credit is now more difficult to obtain for risky business models such as sport clubs. Therefore, alternative, supporter-based financial instruments have become more important. The aim of the study is to identify factors that influence the purchase decision of actual and potential individual investors of financial instruments of football clubs.

Research methods: We used a standardized online questionnaire to track finance-related, club attachment-related and sociodemographic factors that describe potential or actual European investors in supporter-based financial instruments. In total, 760 respondents completely filled out the questionnaires.

Results and findings: Our bivariate and multivariate findings indicate that club attachment is essential for an investment in a football club. The results also underline that traditional investment objectives are more or less irrelevant for supporter-involved financial instruments.

Implications: Investors expect an emotional return that compensates their financial efforts. Therefore, football clubs can act differentially in comparison to other firms issuing financial instruments such as stocks and bonds. The individual investors of football club-related financial instruments do not expect or require a financial return of the issuing football club.

KEYWORDS:

• Stocks
• bonds
• crowdfunding
• supporters’ trust
• behavioural finance

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.