Non-parametric Analysis of Factors Affecting the Competitive Structure of Europe’s Advanced Football Leagues

The purpose of this study was to determine the competition structure, efficiency, and productivity level of the English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, and Turkish football leagues, which were the most advanced in Europe. In this context, the competitive structure of the leagues was determined by the Concentration index, the Herfindahl–Hirschman index (HHI), and the Entropy index (EI). In addition, it was aimed to find out which leagues exhibit relatively better efficiency and productivity by modeling the factors influencing the level of competition (number of spectators, transfer expenditures, market value of the leagues) in the study. The obtained scores were modeled by non-parametric Data Envelopment Analysis and the Malmquist Total Factor Productivity index to analyze performance levels of the leagues between the years 2009 and 2018. According to the results, the French, Italian, English, Spanish, Turkish, and German leagues were the most competitive, respectively. The French and Turkish leagues provided the highest level of efficiency and productivity with minimum spectator, market value, and transfer expenditure. In the model where the HHI and the EI scores were considered as output variables, while the German league achieved the best productivity level on average, the lowest productivity level occurred in the Italian and Turkish leagues.