Economic Prosperity Leads to Sporting Success - Essay Example

Further, football has become a big business game, and all of the English Premier League clubs are currently listed on the London Stock Exchange. By purchasing popular players from different parts of the world, especially Asia, and by holding their training camps in different parts of the world, i.e., effectively touring, clubs are using strategic marketing, thereby creating a significant source of income. This is due to the large population and the rapid development in economic terms of countries to which they are marketing (Ashton-Jones et al., 2008: a). For example, the first appearance of Chinese Lie Tie and Sun Jihai in the English Premier League was broadcast in more than 700 million Chinese homes (Desbordes, 2006, p. 7).

On the other hand, leisure activities have been proven to be “a normal good;” i.e., the demand for leisure increases with increasing income. Research has also shown that the residents of the wealthiest countries spend more time engaging in leisure activities, such as football (Houston and Wilson, 2002). Contemporary indication shows that economic prosperity may lead to sporting success than the other way around. Recent evidence indicates that after 1996 since the Bosman ruling, the success in football is dominated England´s richest four teams (i.e., Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, and Chelsea) called “the big four”. The dominance of these teams since 1996 has led to within thinking comic prosperity may lead to sporting success in football.

Thus, whether economic prosperity leads to sporting success in the case of football or vice versa is unclear and needs to be proved empirically. This is needed to find out the contributing factors for the widening splits between richer and poorer football clubs. This can be considered as a type of inequality between haves and have-nots in the footballer. This inequality is now increasing hence the relevance of such an empirical study.

In this paper, the focus is on the English Premier League (EPL), which many researchers have investigated and have shown to be a “normal good” in relata bougie's income elasticity (Simmons, 1996). The main purpose of this study is to examine whether after the Bosman ruling the big four clubs managed to monopolize football England (similar patterns are found in other European leagues) or not. This is examined because the football industry has changed completely after the Bosman ruling. Before this rule, the clubs had total control over their players, even if the players were without a contract. After the Bosman ruling, players without a contract became "free agents", i.e., players can change clubs without their current club get paid. This getting increased player mobility in Europe (more on this in section 2.1) and top players have got the incentive to move to the richest clubs which resulted in high sports sunspots these clubs.  

Similarly, a development of the former claim, it is demonstrated that the UEFA Champions League has been a major factor behind the widening gap between the big clubs and the smaller clubs. It is also shown how the club's financial status can also be a contributing factor to the expanding split between the clubs.

However, for many people, especially those from developing countries, football is more than just a sport. It can become an extreme passion bordering on obsession. The so-called soccer war between El Salvador and Honduras lasted five days because El Salvador defeated Honduras in a World Cup qualifier match (Global security). Many suicides occurred in Brazil after the Brazilian national football team lost the final game against Uruguay in 1950 World Cup (FIFA World Cup).