The impact of Financial Fair Play on the Competitive Balance in European Football Leagues

The paper conducts an analysis to test the impact of the Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulation introduced by the UEFA in 2010 on the competitive balance in the European football industry. I rst give background information on the importance of competitive balance (CB) in sports and the theoretical impact of FFP. The empirical analysis based on 24 European countries gives evidence of a slight negative impact on the CB due to the enforcement of the FFP in 2011/12. This leads to the conclusion of an emerging league hierarchy within each country and potential antitrust issues concerning UEFA as the governing body of the European football market.