Through an event study methodology, the effect of the nomination of Athens as the hosting city for the Olympics of 2004 on the stock exchanges of Greece (winner) and Italy (loser), the two primary candidates for the Games is examined. Academic literature suggests that sporting mega events have a...

A recent development in the UK television industry has been the emergence of satellite and cable broadcasting. We examine the entrance of the BSkyB satellite network into the coverage of the first division of the rugby football league over the 1993-94 season. This paper extends the familiar...

This paper investigates the differences between negotiated and arbitrated settlements in the footballers transfer market utilizing a data set containing FLAC decisions covering the period 1978-9 to 1991-2. Our analysis suggests that arbitrated settlements deflate transfer fees compared with...

Using fixed betting odds for football match outcomes this paper improves on previous versions of outcome uncertainty models of attendance demand by utilizing data on 'repeat' fixtures between two teams. This provides some control over the variation in match characteristics which influence...

Using data on 'spread' betting odds for rugby league football this study shows that handicap odds are unbiased and efficient predictors of match results and that, as a proxy for match uncertainty of outcomes, the handicap value is a significant determinant of attendance.

This paper examines the existence of significant differences in the expected returns to bets placed about identical outcomes in different sectors of a betting market. In an informationally efficient market, such differences should be arbitraged away. Evidence is presented here which suggests...

This paper investigates the reason why expected returns to identical bets placed at different odds vary significantly and systematically from one another. It is hypothesized that the cause is the existence for bettors of positive transactions costs. Two different arenas, fixed odds and spread...