By David Butler
Broadcasting live sport is interesting as the seller shares in the uncertainty regarding the quality of the product with the buyer. For example, just like football fans, Sky Sports or TNT sports, do not know the outcome of a football match either. Sky did not know that Crystal Palace vs Manchester United would end 0-0 last Saturday evening – if they did, would they have chosen to televise it? Maybe. Given the international following of the Big-6 clubs, perhaps the broadcasters will still draw larger numbers independent of the result for these clubs. That said, I wonder what damage (if any) the dreaded 0-0 does to broadcasters figures - particularly in less internationalised leagues.
For live sports, we usually think of uncertainty from the buyer’s side/demand side. But the seller shares in this too. They often select matches to show from a menu of potential fixtures. The broadcaster (I’m assuming) doesn’t wish to pick the old maid, they would likely prefer to choose the higher scoring outcomes and more entertaining matches to broadcast from the bundle. But in the context of football, statistically, broadcasters will unintentionally sell a 'lemon'.
There are not too many markets where two-sided asymmetric information exists - where either side does not have full knowledge on the product quality. Examples often arise when mother nature is crucial to supply. Travel agents can provide the plane and hotel but can’t guarantee the sunny holiday conditions. Farmers may sell crops before the harvest through futures contracts but don’t know the exact quality or yield of their crops until after a growing season. Maybe other areas of the cultural industries could be included too – Art or Music for example – sellers will only learn afterwards the quality of the product they are selling.
Back to football - it would be interesting to see the data on the effect of these scoreless draws on later broadcasts. It would also be interesting to see whether these stalemates early in a round of fixtures (or at any early match slot time) had an impact on demand for later matches.
Below is a list of results from the Premier League over the last few seasons that ended in a 0-0, ranked by match (total) expected goals. The higher on this list, arguably, the less entertaining the match. After-all, a 0-0 may still have had lots of attacking threat, missed chances etc.
Eyeballing the list, perhaps broadcasters should avoid Crystal Palace as a rule of thumb!
Broadcasting live sport is interesting as the seller shares in the uncertainty regarding the quality of the product with the buyer. For example, just like football fans, Sky Sports or TNT sports, do not know the outcome of a football match either. Sky did not know that Crystal Palace vs Manchester United would end 0-0 last Saturday evening – if they did, would they have chosen to televise it? Maybe. Given the international following of the Big-6 clubs, perhaps the broadcasters will still draw larger numbers independent of the result for these clubs. That said, I wonder what damage (if any) the dreaded 0-0 does to broadcasters figures - particularly in less internationalised leagues.
For live sports, we usually think of uncertainty from the buyer’s side/demand side. But the seller shares in this too. They often select matches to show from a menu of potential fixtures. The broadcaster (I’m assuming) doesn’t wish to pick the old maid, they would likely prefer to choose the higher scoring outcomes and more entertaining matches to broadcast from the bundle. But in the context of football, statistically, broadcasters will unintentionally sell a 'lemon'.
There are not too many markets where two-sided asymmetric information exists - where either side does not have full knowledge on the product quality. Examples often arise when mother nature is crucial to supply. Travel agents can provide the plane and hotel but can’t guarantee the sunny holiday conditions. Farmers may sell crops before the harvest through futures contracts but don’t know the exact quality or yield of their crops until after a growing season. Maybe other areas of the cultural industries could be included too – Art or Music for example – sellers will only learn afterwards the quality of the product they are selling.
Back to football - it would be interesting to see the data on the effect of these scoreless draws on later broadcasts. It would also be interesting to see whether these stalemates early in a round of fixtures (or at any early match slot time) had an impact on demand for later matches.
Below is a list of results from the Premier League over the last few seasons that ended in a 0-0, ranked by match (total) expected goals. The higher on this list, arguably, the less entertaining the match. After-all, a 0-0 may still have had lots of attacking threat, missed chances etc.
Eyeballing the list, perhaps broadcasters should avoid Crystal Palace as a rule of thumb!
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