Seminar: Sports economics - Q3

Participation Prerequisites

This seminar is open to all WHU Bachelor students interested in the economics of professional team sports, with a particular focus on stadium-related aspects. It can be a fun course, though it does require a fair amount of work. I might also end up challenging a few romanticized ideas about professional sports in general — and football in particular. If you can live with that, you’ll have a great time.

Course Content

Modeling the antecedents and (financial) consequences of stadium attendance demand is a key pillar of sports economics research. And while we won’t be able to cover the topic in all its breadth during our relatively short seminar, I hope to help you develop a more objective perspective on the role spectators play in today’s evolving European stadium ecosystems. Along the way, we’ll discuss aspects such as the current market for European football attendances and its development, whether home advantage exists, how loyal season ticket holders really are, and, once the final whistle is blown, who ultimately pays the bill.

Instruction Type

In our interactive kick-off session, I’ll walk you through key trends in European football stadium attendance and the broader economics behind it, along with some current developments. You’ll then explore several possible seminar paper topics, choose one to develop into your term paper, and present your findings in a second session. Along the way, you can join optional feedback meetings with me to discuss your progress.

Form of Examination

Literature

There are no required readings before the seminar. I’ll share references in our first class. If you’re curious to dive into the topic early, I regularly post related insights on LinkedIn. Please feel free to follow along and join the conversation to stay up to date on all things stadium economics.

You can find me on LinkedIn here: Click here.