The Effect of Competitive Balance on the Demand for International Cricket

Sacheti, Abhinav (2006) The Effect of Competitive Balance on the Demand for International Cricket. [Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)] (Unpublished)

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Abstract

The issue of competitive balance and its effect on the attendance demand for sport has been covered extensively for many professional sports, but there is very little coverage of the effect of competitive balance on demand for international cricket, particularly in terms of long run competitive balance. This dissertation uses economic analysis to investigate the effect of long run competitive balance on attendance demand for international cricket, using attendance data for Test and one-day international cricket matches played by the English national cricket team in England between 1980 and 2005, and likewise for the Australian national cricket team in Australia between 1988 and 2006. I first build an index of ratings for international teams for both Test cricket and one-day international cricket for the last 26 years and use it to obtain a measure of uncertainty of outcome for every match, in terms of the difference between ratings points. I then examine whether this measure affects attendance demand for international cricket, while controlling other determinants of demand for international cricket. I find that decreasing competitive balance has a mixed effect on attendance demand for Test cricket in England and a negative effect on attendance demand for Test and one-day international cricket in Australia. The effect of competitive balance on demand for English one-day international cricket is unclear due to a large proportion of supply constrained matches. My findings present an argument for the International Cricket Council to introduce a two-tiered system into international cricket.

This study is also distinctive in economic literature through a first assessment of the determinants of the demand for one-day international cricket. In particular, day/night matches raise average attendance considerably at one-day international matches in Australia, whereas day/night matches reduce average attendance at one-day international matches in England. Both results carry significant implications with regard to the scheduling of one-day international cricket matches in both countries.

Item Type: Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)
Keywords: demand for sport, demand for cricket, competitive balance, uncertainty of outcome
Depositing User: EP, Services
Date Deposited: 09 Nov 2006
Last Modified: 16 Mar 2018 17:55
URI: https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/20518

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