This study provides first evidence on how belief dynamics are driving entertainment utility and consequently the demand for sports across markets by analyzing minute-by-minute audience data of UEFA Champions League (UCL) games televised in the UK and the Spanish market during a full (pre-COVID) cycle of broadcasting rights. Overall, we find that suspense and surprise are the main drivers of demand in both markets while shock only has marginal effects in the Spanish market. Interestingly, we find a combined impact of suspense and surprise in the UK market that is of similar magnitude as reported in a previous study for English Premier League matches in the UK. In the Spanish market, however, the combined impact is considerably larger.

Research Line: Sports Consumer Behavior

Funding / Support: Intramural Funding, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).

Principal Investigators: Georgios Nalbantis, Tim Pawlowski, Travis Richardson

Publication: 

• Emotional cues and the demand for televised sports: evidence from the UEFA Champions League. Published in the Journal of Sports Economics.