By John Considine
To a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Therefore, it should not be surprising that I'm convinced that there is a growing interest in the economics of sport. And, I take new departures in that direction as (anecdotal) evidence that my hypothesis is correct. In recent month there has been two interesting developments in the financial press in these islands.
A couple of weeks ago, Matthew Engel started a weekly column in the Financial Times. His first column examined how the Hillsborough disaster coincided with a change in English football (here). Another column details Northampton's struggle to stay in the fourth tier of English football (here). It is worth reading for the way Engel ends the piece by putting sport in perspective. It is also worth reading for its identification of the perils of investing in a competition that involves relegation. Last Monday he discussed how China is waiting for a breakthrough in snooker (here) - I presume the Irish man he refers to is Ken Doherty rather than Alex Higgins or Dennis Taylor.
Of course, there was plenty of sport in the Financial Times prior to Engel's columm. Superb sports related issues are likely to show up in what might seem like unlikely places. For example, the attempt by Massimo Cellino to takeover Leeds United was documented under "Travel & Leisure". Maybe it was the difficulties Mr Cellino encountered in his takeover attempt as a result of his failure to pay import duty on a yacht that brought the story under the heading of "Travel & Leisure".
In Ireland, The Sunday Business Post launched a 'Business of Sport' page over a month ago. The decision was "in response to a range of reader surveys showing this to be an area of interest". In an effort to support my hypothesis on the growing interest in the area, I have emailed the newspaper for some data from the reader surveys. I hope to post on this issue if/when I get my hands on the data.
The new page has a column by Ewan MacKenna and a feature on betting by Emmet Ryan. Its first outing on March 9th also had a story on Donald Trump's interest in Doonbeg Golf Club and a plan from the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport.
Sport coverage is not limited to the 'Business of Sport' page in The Sunday Business Port. For example, two weeks ago Barry J. Whyte had an insightful piece on the distribution of salaries for American and Irish soccer players. Whyte says that while Robbie Keane earned $4.5m with LA Galaxy, 20 of the 31 players at the club are paid between $30,000 and $90,000. He also noted that "Keane's earning equate to the salaries of nearly 78 League of Ireland players".
If my hypothesis is correct then expect a rise in the number of such columns and pages.
A couple of weeks ago, Matthew Engel started a weekly column in the Financial Times. His first column examined how the Hillsborough disaster coincided with a change in English football (here). Another column details Northampton's struggle to stay in the fourth tier of English football (here). It is worth reading for the way Engel ends the piece by putting sport in perspective. It is also worth reading for its identification of the perils of investing in a competition that involves relegation. Last Monday he discussed how China is waiting for a breakthrough in snooker (here) - I presume the Irish man he refers to is Ken Doherty rather than Alex Higgins or Dennis Taylor.
Of course, there was plenty of sport in the Financial Times prior to Engel's columm. Superb sports related issues are likely to show up in what might seem like unlikely places. For example, the attempt by Massimo Cellino to takeover Leeds United was documented under "Travel & Leisure". Maybe it was the difficulties Mr Cellino encountered in his takeover attempt as a result of his failure to pay import duty on a yacht that brought the story under the heading of "Travel & Leisure".
In Ireland, The Sunday Business Post launched a 'Business of Sport' page over a month ago. The decision was "in response to a range of reader surveys showing this to be an area of interest". In an effort to support my hypothesis on the growing interest in the area, I have emailed the newspaper for some data from the reader surveys. I hope to post on this issue if/when I get my hands on the data.
The new page has a column by Ewan MacKenna and a feature on betting by Emmet Ryan. Its first outing on March 9th also had a story on Donald Trump's interest in Doonbeg Golf Club and a plan from the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport.
Sport coverage is not limited to the 'Business of Sport' page in The Sunday Business Port. For example, two weeks ago Barry J. Whyte had an insightful piece on the distribution of salaries for American and Irish soccer players. Whyte says that while Robbie Keane earned $4.5m with LA Galaxy, 20 of the 31 players at the club are paid between $30,000 and $90,000. He also noted that "Keane's earning equate to the salaries of nearly 78 League of Ireland players".
If my hypothesis is correct then expect a rise in the number of such columns and pages.
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