Does Race Matter? Sports Sponsorship and Discrimination: Evidence from Professional European Soccer

28 Pages Posted: 7 Apr 2022

See all articles by Tommy Kweku Quansah

Tommy Kweku Quansah

University of Lausanne

Silas Amo-Agyei

University of Lausanne - Department of Economics

Date Written: February 21, 2022

Abstract

Sponsorship income is one of the most important revenue sources for professional soccer clubs operating in the European top leagues. In light of the media attention that the Colin Kaepernick case and the Black Lives Matter movement have gained world-wide in recent times, the study at hand investigates the existence of racial discrimination within the scope of Sports Sponsorships by testing the relationship between the ethnic composition of a team and the value of the team’s front-of-the-shirt sponsorship.

In contrast to North American sports leagues, the economic consequences of discrimination have seen little investigation in Europe. Using panel data from the German Bundesliga and English Premier League (EPL), the current study makes use of a “market test” approach to determine whether racial discrimination economically affect sponsorship rights holder in European Soccer by applying fixed-effects models.

The findings reveal that having black players in general or having players of sub-Saharan African nationality significantly reduces the value of a club’s annual front-of-the-shirt sponsorship value, in particular in the German Bundesliga. Furthermore, this negative effect is not mitigated by players’ average value, club’s reputation or participation in UEFA Club Competitions.

Keywords: sport sponsorship, racism, discrimination, professional football, soccer

Suggested Citation

Quansah, Tommy Kweku and Amo-Agyei, Silas, Does Race Matter? Sports Sponsorship and Discrimination: Evidence from Professional European Soccer (February 21, 2022). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4039770 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4039770

Tommy Kweku Quansah (Contact Author)

University of Lausanne ( email )

Quartier Chambronne
Lausanne, Vaud CH-1015
Switzerland

Silas Amo-Agyei

University of Lausanne - Department of Economics ( email )

Switzerland

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