A Violent Response to Changing the Rules of the Game: The Case of “The Split” in Scottish Premier League Soccer

The Scottish Premier League features the “split,” in which the league separates into two divisions after 33 games. This paper tests whether club behavior related to aggressive play is affected by the split. Our results indicate that there is no difference in the way bottom and top teams use normal fouls during post-split games. However, teams in the top division experience more yellow-card fouls after the split than teams in the bottom division. Thus, the split appears to influence the behavior of teams in the top and bottom divisions differentially with respect to more serious misconduct and aggression.