The Economics of Sport
  • Sports Economics
  • About
  • Workshop
  • Selected Publications
  • Book Reviews
  • A Primer on Gaelic Games
  • Upcoming Events
  • Media
  • Education
  • Resources & Links
  • Data

The Return of Messi, Modric and Bale

13/2/2019

 
By Robbie Butler

In August last year, Sky Sports lost the right to screen live La Liga matches in the UK and Ireland. I wrote above this here. It was a blow to subscribers of the sports channel, as games were regularly shown live on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening. Along with this, Sky Sports News regularly showed highlights of games from Spain's top division.

There may be an upside however. With the Champions League returning to our screens this week and next, it is the first opportunity to watch the likes of Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann and Luka Modric, crowned both "The Best FIFA Men's Player" and " Ballon d'Or" winner in 2018, since the World Cup in Russia last July. In the case of Gareth Bale, many have not watched him play since his Man of the Match performance in the 2018 Champions League Final last May. 

Before we were saturated with the best players in the world through the broadcasting deal Sky had secured. The loss of La Liga has reversed this trend.This brings me back to my childhood, and memories of watching many of the best players rather infrequently. It wasn't that I didn't want to watch these players, but rather that games were not broadcast and access was not available.

The UEFA European Championships and FIFA World Cup provided a rare chance to watch some of the best players in the world. In the case of top European talent, there would be a chance to see these players every two years at international competitions or maybe on a Sunday morning highlights reel. The top South American talent, particularly those playing in Brazil and Argentina, only appeared on our screens every four years. 

I often wonder how much I suffered from an availability bias - to only use salient examples that come readily to mind to make judgments - and representativeness  - drawing conclusions from very small and biased samples. Did this play a part in our evaluation of  all of these players were rarely encountered. For example, Brazilian players were held in awe. We couldn't watch these players on a regular basis and footage that did arrive on our screens was always showcasing the best talent.

For example, Denílson de Oliveira Araújo became the most expensive player in the world in 1998, when Spanish club Real Betis paid São Paulo £21.5 million for his services. At the time I had heard about his remarkable step-over routine. I built a narrative around this. Whilst he was a player of talent, that came on in the 2002 World Cup Final, he was not the player I expected him to be, having watched him at length. In fact, many of the international players that were showcased as being far better than the players we watched on a regular basis, were in fact no better. 

As broadcasting of all players across the world has become more readily available, I wonder to what extent the diminished mystery of those coming from places that were once largely unknown to everyone but scouts (Brazil and Argentina come to mind) has impacted upon their chances of success at global football tournaments?

17/23 and 19/23 players from the 2018 World Cup squads for Argentina and Brazil played with a UEFA affiliated league. European opponents at the 2018 World Cup would have been very much aware of their strengths and weakness. The 1970 World Cup winning squad from Brazil didn't have a single European based player. Argentina had just 6 European based players in their 1986 winning squad, only 3 of whom started the Final. Even the most recent South American winners, the 2002 Brazil squad, had a majority home-based squad with just 10 UEFA based players.

The rise of broadcasting, of not just domestic players, but all players globally, has coincided with a decline in success of teams outside of Europe at the World Cup. Maybe this is coincidence. Maybe not - perhaps the dissemination of information plays a greater role?. Regardless, I am looking forward to watching players that I have not seen in months, live on television over the coming weeks. 

Comments are closed.

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013

    About

    This website was founded in July 2013.

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    American Football
    Athletics
    Baseball
    Basketball
    Behavioural Economics
    Boxing
    Broadcasting
    Competitive Balance
    Cricket
    Cycling
    Darts
    David Butler
    Declan Jordan
    Drugs
    Ed Valentine
    Epl
    Esports
    Expenditure
    F1
    Fifa World Cup
    Finances
    Funding
    Gaa
    Gaelic Games
    Gambling
    Game Theory
    Gary Burns
    Geography
    Golf
    Greyhound Racing
    Guest Posts
    Horse Racing
    Impact Studies
    John Considine
    John Eakins
    League Of Ireland
    Location
    Media
    Mls
    Mma
    Olympics
    Participation
    Paul O'Sullivan
    Premier League
    Regulation
    Research
    Robbie Butler
    Rugby
    Simpsonomics
    Snooker
    Soccer
    Spatial Analysis
    Sporting Bodies
    Stephen Brosnan
    Swimming
    Taxation
    Teaching
    Technology
    Tennis
    Transfers
    Uefa
    Ufc
    World Cup
    Wwe

Related

The website is not formally affiliated to any institution and all of the entries represent the personal views and opinions of an individual contributor. The website operates on a not-for-profit basis. For this reason we decline all advertisement opportunities. 

Contact

To contact us email sportseconomics2013@gmail.com or find us on Twitter @SportEcon.