By Robbie Butler

As announced last month, our annual sports economics workshop will return in 2021 following postponement in 2020.The annual event will return on the 21st of May 2021.

Given the current public advice and government restrictions in place in Ireland, the event this year will be held online.

So far presenters have been confirmed from Lancaster University, the University of Reading and University College Cork. We hope to confirm more speakers in the weeks ahead. A full programme will be available by early April. 

As always, this event is free to attend. Hosting details will be provided closer to the event.

By John Considine

Earlier this week the Deloitte Football Money League (DFML) was published.  Sheffield United appeared in the publication for the first time whereas Manchester United was the highest ranked Premier League club.  Last night, Sheffield United defeated Manchester United on the field.  Because of the result, Manchester United were denied the chance to go top of the Premier League.  Despite the result, Sheffield United remain bottom of the Premier League.  Despite the result, it is likely that they will be relegated from the Premier League and, therefore, their stay in the DFML will also be limited to two seasons.

In the context of Covid-19, I have previously drawn attention to the importance of relegation and promotion for the financial health of clubs (here).  The impact of the pandemic on football more generally is very well explained and illustrated in the latest DFML.  The early pages of the report are devoted to explaining to the reader the complications introduced to the revenues by the pandemic.  It is an excellent overview and well worth reading.

There is the usual range of data in the DFML.  Revenues are decomposed into Matchday, Broadcast, and Commercial.  Below is a picture that illustrates the impact of the pandemic on the larger Premier League clubs.   Not surprisingly, matchday revenues declined for all seven clubs as fans were absent from stadia for a significant proportion of the season.  Broadcast revenue declined for six of the seven clubs.  The one bright spot was commercial revenues.  Commerical revenues improved for six of the seven clubs.

Many of these changes will continue into the next DFML.

By David Butler

Over the Christmas break, I observed three less talked about incidents relating to officiating objectivity in Premier League football. These all concerned the application of the rules on the allocation of additional time at the end of the match. I find these interesting as they offer a means to consider consistency in the application of the rules, where there is lesser scope to appeal to context or referee discretion. 

The first was in Liverpool’s 7-0 win over Crystal Palace. The second was during Leed’s 5-0 win against West Brom. The third occurred in Manchester City’s 4-0 win over Crystal Palace. In all three, I was surprised at the minimal allocation of added time at 90 minutes. Only one additional minute was shown by the fourth official Stuart Attwell despite six substitutions taking place at Selhurst Park. At the Hawthorns only two minutes of added time were held up by fourth official Michael Salisbury, again despite six substitutions. When Manchester City were four up against Palace, there was only 2 minutes added on by 4th official Andy Madley. Five subs took place at the Etihad. 

The chart below shows the average added time allocated for a scale of score differences in EPL matches over this season and last. I’ve removed some outliers related to serious injuries and only considered matches where there is a five-goal margin or less between the teams. In short, when margins are tighter, on average, more additional time is allocated. 

My guess is that the correct calls are made for the close matches. We may not however be seeing enough time added in matches where the outcome looks almost certain. For my three matches above , the rule of thumb relating to substitutes were not applied. The subs alone should have resulted in greater allocations of added time. I'm sure there was plenty of added time needed owing to celebrations too!

Are there other explanations for this pattern? Maybe. Perhaps time wasting and other gamesmanship is substantially less in matches that are effectively over.
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Does it matter?  Maybe not to the result. Crystal Palace (twice!) and West Brom were probably thankful to be put out of their misery. However, these data may point toward an inconsistent application of rules. If officials are inconsistent when it comes to something that should be easily calculated, can we expect them to be consistent for the more difficult calls?  Being objective and fair is a key principle of the EPL.  What’s more, there is a significant gambling industry that exists alongside the sport – for bettors and bookies every minute can matter.