By Robbie Butler
The annual gathering of the European Sport Economics Association was held in Zurich from the 19th to the 21st of August.
Hosted by the University of Zurich, the event was preceded by the PhD Workshop, which I had the pleasure of speaking at. More than a dozen students, registered on various postgraduate and PhD programmes across the world, enjoyed two and a half days of instruction from leading sports economists and other academics in the field, including Carl Singleton (University of Stirling), Alex Krumer (Molde University College), Dennis Coates (University of Maryland), Ulrich Brandes (ETH Zurich), and Brian Soebbing (University of Alberta), as well as local hosts Helmut Dietl and Raphael Flepp.
The conference began on Wednesday afternoon with the traditional panel discussion entitled "Innovation in Sports," followed by the first set of parallel sessions. The evening ended with a spectacular, panoramic view of Zurich from high up in the university. In total, almost 80 papers were presented, across a multitude of sports and topics in economics, with nearly 100 participants engaging in the conference in one form or another.
The annual gathering of the European Sport Economics Association was held in Zurich from the 19th to the 21st of August.
Hosted by the University of Zurich, the event was preceded by the PhD Workshop, which I had the pleasure of speaking at. More than a dozen students, registered on various postgraduate and PhD programmes across the world, enjoyed two and a half days of instruction from leading sports economists and other academics in the field, including Carl Singleton (University of Stirling), Alex Krumer (Molde University College), Dennis Coates (University of Maryland), Ulrich Brandes (ETH Zurich), and Brian Soebbing (University of Alberta), as well as local hosts Helmut Dietl and Raphael Flepp.
The conference began on Wednesday afternoon with the traditional panel discussion entitled "Innovation in Sports," followed by the first set of parallel sessions. The evening ended with a spectacular, panoramic view of Zurich from high up in the university. In total, almost 80 papers were presented, across a multitude of sports and topics in economics, with nearly 100 participants engaging in the conference in one form or another.
Lake Zurich, Switzerland. August 2026
The annual general meeting was held in an iconic room that had once hosted Winston Churchill in 1946, where he spoke of a "United States of Europe" as the threat of Soviet expansion emerged on the European continent.
The highlight of the three days for me was a visit to the FIFA Museum in the heart of Zurich. Delegates were given a guided tour of the artefacts on show from each World Cup tournament to date (excluding 2026). Items and memorabilia included jerseys worn by Diego Maradona (World Cup 1986) and Lothar Matthäus (World Cup 1990), as well as match balls from finals, football boots from the 1954 final, and even the pipe of a World Cup-winning manager, now nearly 100 years old.
The 2027 conference — the 18th to date — will be held at the University of Poznań, Poland, in the last week of August.
The highlight of the three days for me was a visit to the FIFA Museum in the heart of Zurich. Delegates were given a guided tour of the artefacts on show from each World Cup tournament to date (excluding 2026). Items and memorabilia included jerseys worn by Diego Maradona (World Cup 1986) and Lothar Matthäus (World Cup 1990), as well as match balls from finals, football boots from the 1954 final, and even the pipe of a World Cup-winning manager, now nearly 100 years old.
The 2027 conference — the 18th to date — will be held at the University of Poznań, Poland, in the last week of August.
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