Outcome Uncertainty in Sporting Events

Winning, Losing and Competitive Balance

New Horizons in the Economics of Sport series

Edited by Plácido Rodríguez, University of Oviedo, Spain, the late Stefan Kesenne, formerly University of Antwerp and KU Leuven, Belgium and Brad R. Humphreys, Department of Economics, West Virginia University, US

This book examines competitive balance and outcome uncertainty from multiple perspectives. Chapters address the topic in different sports in a range of countries, to help to understand its significance. It provides readers with important new insights into previously unexplored dimensions as well as a rich context for better understanding why fans, teams, and leagues value competitive balance. The book challenges readers to think about the topic in a broad and rigorous way, and in some cases to question widely held beliefs about how outcome uncertainty motivates competitive balance, and how sports fans actually view competitive balance.

‘The thought-provoking chapters in this volume represent a great contribution to the debate in sports on competitive balance and outcome uncertainty. The authors provide state-of-frontier analysis and practical policy discussion. The volume is essential reading for academics, students and stakeholders in the sports sector.’
– Robert Simmons, Lancaster University, UK