The Economics of professional team sports: content, trends and future developments

The objective of this paper is to present the prevailing content, trends and future developments of professional team sports economics. The purpose of this paper is not to provide a full record of all professional team sports related research with an economic content, but rather to point out the main issues that sports economics tackle since their birth and track the evolution of these issues as a response to the changing environment of team sports. League market structure, team objectives, demand, financing, labour markets and sports broadcasting are the most prominent areas of interest in professional team sports economics. Differences in organizational structure of professional team sports in Europe and U.S.A. shape the research agenda on the two sides of the Atlantic accordingly. Future developments should capture both economic and social aspects of contemporary professional team sports.