A team from Tübingen (team members: Laurine Hollenbeck, Eric Steuernagel, and Simon Essel) made it to the finals and presented their work to an expert jury and in front of a large audience. Congratulations to the team for their excellent work and for reaching the finals in a very competitive field. 

This study is based on a research project that was funded by the German Federal Institute of Sports Science, which was conducted jointly by Dr. Felix Otto and Prof. Tim Pawlowski (both Institute of Sports Science), well as Prof. Christian Deutscher and Finn Spilker (both Bielefeld University).

The book is published as open access and can be downloaded as PDF or EPUB.

Otto, F., Pawlowski, T., Deutscher, C., & Spilker, F. (2026). Integrität im Sport: Forschungsstand zur Prävention von integritätsgefährdenden Phänomenen. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-50899-9

To increase competitive balance within the league over time, the worst teams of a season are given the best chance to pick the best players. In closed leagues such as the NBA, however, this can have undesirable consequences: teams that do not make it to the playoffs have an incentive to lose on purpose in order to increase their chances of getting the best pick. This behavior, known as tanking, threatens the integrity and attractiveness of the entire competition.

Kenneth Colombe (U Bonn), Mats Duys, Elias Tsakas (both Maastricht U) and Tim Pawlowski (IfS) have worked on allocation mechanisms for quite some time now. According to a recent commentary in The New York Times by John Hollinger (basketball analyst and senior writer for The Athletic), their newly developed algorithm has the potential to significantly improve the system.

Kenneth, C., Duys, M., Pawlowski, T., & Tsakas, E. (2026). A performance-weighted allocation mechanism for repeated contests. Executive summary

Overall, the findings suggest that intertemporal decision-making by sports consumers is indeed systematically biased. Warmer (than expected) weather at the time of purchase reduces the likelihood of stadium attendance, while higher (than expected) precipitation and longer (than expected) sunshine duration increases this likelihood. Moreover, they offer some initial evidence in line with the literature on hedonic consumption, since decision-making by women seems to be stronger affected by weather compared to men.

Kowalik, M., & Pawlowski, T. (2026). Projection bias in individual football ticket purchases. Journal of Sports Economics. Online first at https://doi.org/10.1177/15270025261422471

Moreno-Ternero, J. D., Weber, S., & Pawlowski, T. (2026). International rewards and budget concentration in domestic sports leagues. Annals of Operations Research, 357, 1079–1099.

During his studies B.Sc. student Leon Küting took part in an earlier edition of this field trip. He is currently completing his internship at the Stuttgart HallenDuo and describes his work at the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle and the Porsche-Arena as diverse, hands-on, and enriching. According to Küting, his degree program provided a solid academic foundation, while the internship now enables him not only to gain insight into event management processes but also to actively contribute to their implementation. His overall assessment of this “excellent internship position” is entirely positive.

Moneyball was one of the films shown during the festival. The story follows team manager Billy Beane, who, after the breakup of the Oakland Athletics, had to assemble a competitive baseball team with limited resources. He is supported by economic analyst Peter Brand, who develops a data-driven, statistics-based approach that enables him to build a strong performance team without relying on star players.

After the film, a discussion was held with Prof. Dr. Tim Pawlowski (University of Tübingen) and Jun.-Prof. Pascal Bauer(Saarland University). They provided a scholarly perspective on the film and engaged with audience questions. The conversation also related to the Data Science and Sports Lab, which was established in Tübingen already in 2020.

The YRP brings together current students and recent graduates specialising in sports journalism, communications or digital media from all over the world, placing them at the heart of the multi-sport event. The programme offers participants unrestricted access to competition venues, the main press centre, and behind-the-scenes areas of a major sporting event. For two weeks (16–27 July 2025), participants will be immersed in a multicultural learning experience that will challenge them in various ways. As well as covering the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games competitions, participants will attend lectures by seasoned media and communications experts, and receive mentoring in their reporting from experienced sports journalists.

Benjamin Stiehl is the third IfS student to be selected for this programme, following in the footsteps of Nicole Torregrossa (2011) and Max Lange (2015). Lara Zugck, a Master's student at the University of Mainz and an alumnus of the Bachelor's programme in Sports Science with the profile Media and Communication, is also participating in the YRP 2025.

Further information on the YRP can be found in an article in the SportSirene online magazine and on the FISU and Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games websites.

As part of his stay, Carl Singleton will give two lectures on current topics in sports economics. On Tuesday, July 15, he will speak at 12:15 pm on “Superstar wages”, and at 4:15 pm on “Betting on momentum in contests and the profitability of the bookmaker.” Both talks will take place in Seminar Room 3, Wächterstraße 67.

All interested students, colleagues, and faculty members are cordially invited to attend!

Guest Lectures

The competition day officially began in the morning with an opening ceremony. After welcome speeches by Prof. Dr. Oliver Höner (Director of the Institute of Sports Science at the University of Tübingen), Dr. Gundula Schäfer-Vogel (Mayor for Social Affairs, Order, and Culture of the University City of Tübingen), and Benjamin Schenk (General Secretary of the German University Sports Federation, adh), the dance group Saltantes from the University of Tübingen delivered a performance.

The competition then started with the qualifying round during which the participants had five hours to complete as many of the 40 routes as possible. The top eight female and eight male boulderers advanced to the final. In the final, competitors faced four different routes, with four minutes allocated for each. Scoring was based on the number of attempts and the progress made on each route.

Nele Stadelmeier from the University of Stuttgart won the women's competition. Mia Knandel (TU Munich) and Magdalena Schmidt (TU Munich) took 2nd and 3rd place, while Moritz Welt from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg lived up to his role as favourite in the men's competition. Samuel Frank (University of Hanover) finished second and Jakob Aberle (University of Tübingen) third.

There was also an exciting programme for the numerous spectators with a hanging challenge and an estimation game with interesting prizes. In addition, a quiz evening, a barbecue followed by a party and a punting trip on the Neckar were organised for the participating athletes.

There will be invited talks by 

• Rosa Lavelle-Hill (U Copenhagen)
• Michael Lechner (U St. Gallen)
• Daniel Memmert (GSU Cologne)
• Benno Torgler (Queensland UT)
   

and several lab presentations by colleagues from the

• Institute of Sports Science / IRISPA (U Tübingen)
• School of Business and Economics (U Tübingen)
• Methods Center (U Tübingen)
• Department of Exercise and Sport Science (UNC-CH)
• Kenan-Flagler Business School (UNC-CH)
• Department of Computer Science (UNC-CH)

The full program and a link to register is available here: https://uni-tuebingen.de/de/172545#c2192715.

Congratulations!

The main objective of the workshop was to combine scientific knowledge and practical expertise to advance prevention against the aforementioned threats to the integrity in sport – which is considered an inherent feature of all sporting competitions relating to principles of fair play and a level playing field.

Next to presenting and discussing the preliminary results of the project “Integrity in Sport” – which is funded by the German Federal Institute of Sports Science (BISp) – the workshop provided a unique platform for discussions on the effectiveness and applicability of existing prevention measures.

Special thanks go to the German Federal Institute of Sports Science (BISp) for their financial support as well as all participants for their valuable contributions to the project.

On November 19, 09:00am (CET), Lionel Page(University of Queensland) talks about "How success breeds success” . 

Kaori Narita (University of Liverpool) presents her research on the topic "Causal inference with observational data: A tutorial on propensity score analysis“ on December 17, 04:15pm (CET).

On January 28, 12:30pm (CET), Pamela Wicker (Bielefeld University) reports on the project “Economic sustainability of the UEFA EURO 2024” (28. Januar, 12.30 Uhr). 

All presentation take place via Zoom.

All students and colleagues interested in these topics are cordially invited. Registration via Email is required sarah.windischspam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de

Guest lectures

Together with colleagues from the Universities in Reading, Dundee and London, Tim Pawlowski (Institute of Sports Science, University of Tübingen) analyze 19 m tweets in combination with in-play information for 380 football matches played in the English Premier League in order to contribute to the scientific literature and the managerial practice in three ways.

First, the researchers present a setting for testing how belief dynamics drive behavior which is characterized by several desirable features for empirical research. Second, they present an approach for detecting fans and haters of a club as well as neutrals via sentiment revealed in Tweets. Third, by looking at behavioral responses to the temporal resolution of uncertainty during a game, they offer a fine-grained empirical test for the popular uncertainty-of-outcome hypothesis in sports.

The study has recently been accepted for publication in the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization.

Pawlowski, T., Rambaccussing, D., Ramirez, P., Reade, J. J., Rossi, G. (2024). Exploring entertainment utility from football games. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 223, 185-198. doi 10.1016/j.jebo.2024.04.018

On June 18, Professor Alex Krumer (Molde University College) gives a talk about "Ask not what economics can do for sports - Ask what sports can do for economics”.

Professor Rob Simmons (Lancaster University) gives two different lectures during his stay in Tübingen. On July 2, he talks about "A comparison of player labour markets in North America and Europe” (12:30 pm (CEST), Hörsaal 2, Neue Aula), followed by a presentation of his paper titled "Race and coaching hierarchy in the National Football League” (July 3, 1:00 pm (CEST), FSR Nauklerstraße 48).

All students and colleagues interested in these topics are cordially invited. 

Guest lectures

The study programme is open to graduates from bachelor degree programmes in sports science and economics. Students with a bachelor's degree in economics gain sports science qualifications via a specific module, while students with a sports science background deepen their expertise in economics on this module.

The Institute of Sports Science and the University of Tübingen offer students attractive opportunities to spend a semester abroad. Among others, there is a partnership with the Japanese Graduate School of Business at Rikkyo University – one of the top global universities in Japan

Contact:
Dr. Marcel Fahrner
marcel.fahrnerspam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de

However, integrity in sport is often challenged by illegal conduct, such as doping, match fixing, corruption, discrimination – amongst others, subject of analysis in a project recently awarded with a DFG research grant –, or various forms of interpersonal violence. This can negatively affect trust in the fairness of competitions, and the ideals and ultimate purpose of sport might vanish.

This research project develops an expert report on the role of integrity in sport, considering relevant integrity issues and assessing related prevention measures. In this regard, it merges the current state of research with expert knowledge from the organized sport in Germany and initiates cooperation and exchange between stakeholders.

The project is funded by the German Federal Institute of Sports Science (BISp) and will be conducted jointly by Dr. Felix Otto, Prof. Tim Pawlowski (both Institute of Sports Science), and Prof. Christian Deutscher (Bielefeld University). The project will start in May 2024.

“One of the most visible ways in which data science has become a mainstream phenomenon is due to its application to sport. From the publication of the bestseller Moneyball to the establishment of the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in Boston, data science advances in the context of sport have served to ignite passions across millions of students to learn data science. As such, sport can be credited in large part with the advancement of interest in data science around the globe. At the same time, sport provides an excellent laboratory in which to study firm and human behavior, as emphasized by Nobel Prize laureates Daniel Kahneman or Gary S. Becker. In particular, by exploiting granular sport data with cutting-edge data science techniques, important topics can be addressed, such as the behavioral responses to emotional cues (e.g., for alcohol use), which have a much broader appeal and societal impact. This seed fund will help to carry on this tradition by sparking new collaborations in the area of data science in sport that may lead to significant scientific advancements, as well as inspire students and faculty across the two universities.”

On November 28, Donia Kamel und Guillermo Woo-Mora (Paris School of Economics) talk about "Skin tone penalties: bottom-up discrimination in football”.

Babatunde Buraimo (Management School, University of Liverpool) presents his paper titled "Uncertainty of (the wrong) outcome“ on January 16.

Both presentations start at 04:15pm (CET) via Zoom.

All students and colleagues interested in these topics are cordially invited. Registration via Email is required tim.pawlowskispam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de.

Guest lectures

In the afternoon, the focus in the PreZero Arena in Sinsheim, Europe’s first certified zero-waste stadium, was on resource and waste management. The topic was developed during workshops and a stadium tour with representatives of PreZero.

Big picture: Nick Anders (PreZero) provides exciting insights into resource and waste management in modern stadiums. Small picture left: Annette Breitmayer and Andreas Gulewicz (in.Stuttgart) offer interesting background information about sports facility and event management in the Schleyer-Halle and the Porsche-Arena. Small picture right: Preparation work for the STUTTGART GERMAN MASTERS in the Porsche-Arena.

Overall, the research reveals that exhibition games by EPL clubs have a positive impact on both the WTP for add-on football packages on television and viewership. These effects are predominantly driven by top brands engaging in overseas exhibition games. The findings further suggest that these effects diminish over time, while some spillover benefits on EPL-wide demand emerge.

For league management, the findings underscore the potential (economic) value of organizing overseas exhibition games. For broadcasters, however, our findings might suggest that they need to involve top brands in preseason tours to enhance their return on investment in their national markets. As such, the paper adds to the recently growing literature on internationalization efforts in professional sports and beyond by offering new insights for professionals in the sports and entertainment industry.

Nalbantis, G., & Pawlowski, T. (2023). The effects of overseas exhibition games on consumer interest: The case of the English Premier League. European Sport Management Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1080/16184742.2023.2275609

Since many of such SPEs have serious economic consequences for both candidates and organizations, individual or panels of experts are usually appointed to ensure the quality of evaluation. There is, however, substantial evidence for the existence of different biases in SPEs leading to favoritism or discrimination against candidates.

This project intends to exploit rich panel data from real competitive environments with high stakes, i.e., professional sports, in order to better understand both nationalistic and gender bias. Moreover, it intends to explore whether and how much different measures affect these biases by changing ex ante the incentive structure for judges.

The project is funded in the DFG subject area 112-04 Statistics and Econometrics and will be conducted jointly by Prof. Tim Pawlowski, Dr. Felix Otto (both Institute of Sports Science) and Prof. Alex Krumer (Molde University College, NOR).

Addressing trust as a coping response to risks in social settings, the study conducted by Marcel Fahrner (Institute of Sports Science) draws on both personal trust and system trust. Comprising data from organisational documents and semi-structured interviews with 16 volunteer board members of German state-level SGBs, the study highlights trust-relevant conditions and mechanisms of trust, and reveals how these affect the functioning of the board. Findings illustrate low reliability of decision-making structures, with personal trust serving as a functional equivalent to the weak formal regulations set out by the organisations. In this respect, system trust seems to be based on a common sense of mutual personal trust between the board members.

The research paper was recently accepted for publication in Sport Management Review.

Fahrner, M. (2023). Conditions and Mechanisms of Trust Within Boards of Voluntary Sport Governing Bodies. Sport Management Review. doi.org/10.1080/14413523.2023.2247652

For doing so, the researchers exploit high frequency data provided by UEFA which comprise minute-by-minute television audience figures for all UEFA Champions League matches broadcasted in the UK and Spain during a full cycle of broadcasting rights (2014/15 to 2017/18)

Overall, the study finds that forward-looking suspense and backward-looking surprise are the main drivers of demand in both markets while shock only has marginal effects in the Spanish market.

Interestingly, the research shows 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.

The implications of this research, now published in the Journal of Sports Economics, are relevant for broadcasters, sponsors, leagues, and clubs.

Richardson, T., Nalbantis, G., & Pawlowski, T. (2023). Emotional Cues and the Demand for Televised Sports: Evidence from the UEFA Champions League. Journal of Sports Economics. https://doi.org/10.1177/15270025231187067

The report is available here: LINK

Kenneth Colombe has recently received a Decision Education Research Scholarship Award by the renowned Alliance for Decision Education for presenting his work on NBA Mock Drafts in Philadelphia (USA) (press release).

“I show how one can leverage sports to teach decision-making skills. Using my Master's thesis, completed at Maastricht University, the concept of Mock Drafts in the National Basketball Association (NBA) was identified as a potentially influential and biased source of third-party information impacting team roster construction decision-making. Through this, I was able to highlight how public discourse, which Mock Drafts often mimic, in general, can impact decisions through various biases and heuristics commonly drawn upon. Also, suggestions were given on how to avoid the shortcomings.” (Kenneth Colombe)

Colombe developed this work during his studies in the M.Sc. Human Decision Science program at Maastricht University and recently joined the research team in sports economics for doing his PhD in Tübingen.

Dr. Tim Wallrafen, now working at Behinderten- und Rehabilitationssportverband Nordrhein-Westfalen e.V. has received the Best Paper by a Junior Researcher Award by the Industrial Organization Society for his paper on Competition and fan substitution between professional sports leagues (co-authored by Dr. Georgios Nalbantis and Professor Tim Pawlowski).

Dr. Felix Mutter, who earned his PhD already in 2014, was recently appointed as Head of Operations at the German Football Association (DFB). After holding positions at PwC, EY and in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte the focus of his work is now put on the project and process management for one of the biggest professional associations in world sport.

Congratulations!

The second paper, now published in Economic Inquiry, proposes a potential alternative procedure to assess balancing in the case of a continuous treatment. Results of the empirical analysis suggest that there is no effect of sports expenditures on the probability to practice sports. This study thus complements a paper published in Labour Economics revealing positive effects of sports-related public expenditures on individual labour market outcomes.

Overall, it can be concluded from the project that higher spendings on sports facilities could increase the activity level of physically active individuals. These changes seem sufficient to unfold positive labour market effects in the longer run. At the same time, however, no significant changes in activity patterns of previously inactive individuals are evident.

Funding: Supported by the German Research Foundation and the Swiss National Science Foundation

Reference: Steckenleiter, C., Lechner, M., Pawlowski, T. & Schüttoff, U. (2023). Do local expenditures on sports facilities affect sports participation? Economic Inquiry, 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecin.13161

YouTube presentation: Reading Online Sport Economics Seminar (ROSES)

On June 13,  Professor Thomas Peeters (Erasmus School of Economics) talks about “The manager and player labor market in professional football”. The talk takes place at Lothar-Meyer-Bau (H102), 12:30pm.

Professor Ignacio Palacios-Huerta (London School of Economics) talk on „The Beautiful Dataset“ is on July 26 (2.00 pm via ZOOM).

All students and colleagues interested in these topics are cordially invited. Registration via Email is required: christina.toellespam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de.

Guest lectures

The game started with a team building task and the development of a video in which each team had to present major facilities of the Hanze University campus. In the following days, the teams worked on realistic management tasks related to the “Great North Run”, which were based on various lectures. In addition to professional knowledge and soft skills, such as teamwork and time management, creativity and technical know-how were of great importance, since posters, videos and podcasts had to be developed in addition to written reports.

The best-ranked teams - also with participants from Tübingen - were awarded during the closing ceremony.

Based on a unique international and multisport dataset originating from an online survey of 1,055 international student-athletes, who participated in the 2019 Winter and Summer Universiades, Marcel Fahrner, and Verena Burk (both Institute of Sports Science) examine the relevance of university dual career support services from a student-athletes’ perspective.

The study explores associations between socio-demographic, academic and sport-related variables as well as dual career support services. In this respect, it empirically substantiates the perceived relevance of university support services from a student-athlete perspective and complements the elite sport-related dual career literature. Moreover, the study helps to develop a sound awareness for student-athlete dual career support and thus contributes to the political discussion of creating adequate elite sport framework conditions.

The research paper was recently accepted for publication in Managing Sport and Leisure.

Fahrner, M., & Burk, V. (2023). Relevance of university dual career support services – student-athletes’ perspectives. Managing Sport and Leisure. doi/10.1080/23750472.2023.2191614

Contact:

Dr. Marcel Fahrner (Institute of Sports Science)
marcel.fahrnerspam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de

Kathrin Heinz (VfB Stuttgart Akademie)
K.Heinzspam prevention@vfb-stuttgart.de

The study programme is open to graduates from bachelor degree programmes in sports science and economics. Students with a bachelor's degree in economics gain sports science qualifications via a specific module, while students with a sports science background deepen their expertise in economics on this module.

The Institute of Sports Science and the University of Tübingen offer students attractive opportunities to spend a semester abroad. Among others, there is a partnership with the Japanese Graduate School of Business at Rikkyo University – one of the top global universities in Japan

Contact:
Dr. Marcel Fahrner
marcel.fahrnerspam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de

In the afternoon, the focus of the visit of the PreZero Arena was on sustainability concepts. The topic was developed during an interactive workshop with representatives of PreZero and TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.

On November 29, Professor Heather Stephens (West Virginia University) talks about „Gendered Consequences of COVID-19 Among Professional Tennis Players“ (4.15 pm, via ZOOM). In 2023, there are two talks by Professor Ignacio Palacios-Huerta (London School of Economics) on „The Beautiful Dataset“ (January 11, 2.00 pm via ZOOM) and Professor Thomas Peeters (Erasmus School of Economics) on „International Assortative Matching in the European Labor Market“ (February 1, 2.00 pm via ZOOM).

All students and colleagues interested in these topics are cordially invited. Registration via Email is required: christina.toellespam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de.

Guest lectures

Econometric demand models reveal that the Bundesliga viewership is adversely affected primarily by overlapping Premier League games, pointing towards a significant competition between the US networks for soccer viewers. This insight is highly relevant for regulatory bodies and contributes towards a better understanding of the international sports media market.

The research paper was recently accepted for publication in the Journal of Sports Economics.

Nalbantis, G., Pawlowski, T., & Schreyer, D. (2022). Substitution Effects and the Transnational Demand for European Soccer Telecasts. Journal of Sports Economics, DOI: 10.1177/15270025221132234

Marcel Fahrner talks to Robin Brand about the background of this development. The interview is published in the current issue of c’t – the leading magazine for computer technology with a reach of almost 1 million readers.

The research paper was recently accepted for publication in the European Sport Management Quarterly.

Reference: Otto, F., Nalbantis, G., & Pawlowski, T. (2022). Political relations and sports: Exploring the demand for relocated soccer games. European Sport Management Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1080/16184742.2022.2092171

On May 10, Dr. Carina Steckenleiter (University of St. Gallen) presents her latest findings on „Do local public expenditures on sports facilities affect sports participation in Germany?“ (4.15pm, S3, Wächterstraße).

End of May, Professor Alex Krumer (Molde University College) follows with three talks about his research on „Rot-Jaune-Verde: On linguistic bias of referees in Swiss soccer” (May 25, 2pm via ZOOM), „What management can learn from sports” (May 31, 12.15pm, HS211, Theologicum Bibliothek) and „Fewer teams, more games, larger attendance? Evidence from the structural change in basketball’s EuroLeague” (May 31, 4.15pm, S3, Wächterstraße).

The final lecture will be held by Professor Michael Lechner (University of St. Gallen) on “The effect of sport in online dating: evidence from causal machine learning” (June 22, 2pm, HS23, Kupferbau).

All students and colleagues interested in these topics are cordially invited. Registration via Email is required: christina.toellespam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de.

Guest lectures

Until September 30th, Tübingen students of the bachelor program in sports science / sport management can apply here exclusively for the next start of programme on the topic “Sustainability”.

Teams that scored the most points during the Sport Management Game were awarded on the last day. Several students from Tübingen participated in all top three teams. Congratulations!

This year’s finals were for the first organized time by the IOC Olympic Studies Centre. The task in the final round was to develop a spectator engagement strategy for a so-called „phygital game“ (connects the physical and digital world) of an international sports federation. The jury was made up by renowned experts, including Abhinav A. Bindra (Olympic champion and entrepreneur), Hee Jung Hong (lecturer and expert for eSports), Deanna Jevans (project lead, partnerships and eSports development, International Tennis Federation), Kaan Mazlumca (2021 Olympic virtual series champion in laser class) und Jack Modolo (virtual sports and gaming, International Olympic Committee). The students from Tübingen – Liya Duo, André Oeverdieck, Joel Prosenbauer, and Lara Schoepe – convinced the jury with their concept and achieved an excellent first place.

The film is available on the Institute’s website as well as on the YouTube channel of the University.

According to the Global Investigative Journalism Network this article was amongst the Top 10 of the most popular data journalism stories on Twitter in week 7/2022.

The Economist: find the article here

Paper reference: Krumer, A., Otto, F. & Pawlowski, T. (2021). Nationalistic bias among international experts: Evidence from professional ski jumping. Scandinavian Journal of Economics, doi.org/10.1111/sjoe.12451.

YouTube presentation: Reading Online Sport Economics Seminar (ROSES)

Media coverage: Canada - England - Finland - Germany - Norway - Poland - Russia - Sweden - Ukraine

The paper was recently published in the Review of Industrial Organization.

Wallrafen, T., Nalbantis, G., & Pawlowski, T. (2022). Competition and fan substitution between professional sports league. Review of Industrial Organization, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11151-022-09860-3

On December 7, Dr. Stephanie Kovalchik (Senior Data Scientist at Zelus Analytics) presents her latest findings on “Mixture modelling with sports data“. One week later, i.e. on December 14, Professor Nola Agha (University of San Francisco, USA) talks about her research on “Economic development effects of teams and stadiums”. The final lecture will be held by Professor Benno Torgler (Queensland University of Technology, AUS) on “Behavioural (sport) economics, AI, and quantum computing”.

The presentations will take place online (via ZOOM). All students and colleagues interested in these topics are cordially invited. Registration via Email is required: christina.toellespam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de.

Guest lectures

The basketball team of the Tigers Tübingen is currently on second place in the league table of the 2nd Basketball Bundesliga. The Tigers have already won seven out of nine games.

The first home game - against the team Bayer Giants Leverkusen - took place in the Volksbank-Arena in Rottenburg. The students were responsible for the camera and the directing for the live broadcast on sportdeutschland.tv. The game was commented by the students Niklas Schüler and Benedict Hottner as well as by the experts Rouven Hänig and Manu Pasios.

The next game will take place on Saturday, 20 November 2021, at 7 pm in the Volksbank-Arena in Rottenburg against Rasta Vechta. The pregame show, the game and thus also the students' work can be followed live on sportdeutschland.tv.

Two Case Study Seminars – 6 ECTS accredited for the B.Sc. program Sports Science (Specialization in Sport Management) – offer an exclusive “view behind the scene” by working on hot topics in professional sport club management. Moreover, program participants become member of the VfB Stuttgart Akademie for one year and benefit from, for instance, numerous networking opportunities and access to selected communication and event formats as well as the partner network of the VfB Stuttgart Akademie. Participating candidates with an interest in an internship at the VfB Stuttgart AG will be exclusively invited for an interview.

Further information about the program as well as application instructions (application deadline: 30.9.2021) are available at the program's website of the VfB Stuttgart Akademie. Relevant news are also regularly published on the LinkedIn channel of the VfB Stuttgart Akademie.

Overall, the study provides some evidence of temporal consistency and setting independency for the factors associated with voter turnout. At the same time, it illustrates a practically highly relevant case where statistical and economic significance of a variable differ. Since the effect of distance between one’s home and the meeting place is comparably small, online voting or voting by mail might have little impact on turnout in practice.

The research paper was recently accepted for publication in the European Sport Management Quarterly.

Reference: Coates, D., Fahrner, M., & Pawlowski, T. (2021). Decision-making in professional football: An empirical analysis of club members’ voting behaviour. European Sport Management Quarterly, https://doi.org/10.1080/16184742.2021.1939396

The research paper was recently accepted for publication in a special issue of the European Sport Management Quarterly on the societal impacts of elite sports.

Reference: Otto, F., Pawlowski, P., & Utz, S. (2021). Trust in fairness, doping, and the demand for sports: A study on international track and field events. European Sport Management Quarterly, https://doi.org/10.1080/16184742.2021.1942125

On June 8, Professor Christian Deutscher (University of Bielefeld) presents his latest findings about “The dynamics of sports betting markets“. Two weeks later, i.e. on June 22, Professor Ian McHale (University of Liverpool, UK) talks about his research on “Predicting transfer market fees with machine learning”. The final lecture will be held by Professor James Reade (University of Reading, UK) on “Covid-19 and spectators sports” (some of his latest findings on this topic were already published recently in Economics Letters).

The presentations will take place online (via ZOOM). All students and colleagues interested in these topics are cordially invited. Registration via Email is required: christina.toellespam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de.

Guest lectures

The identification strategy in the project follows a selection-on-observables approach and exploits the panel structure of the data covering 12 years between 2001 and 2012. The results of various matching estimations suggest that both women and men exposed to high annual expenditure levels (i.e. €31–€85 per capita) over 5 years, obtain approximately €150 of additional household net income on average. However, this income effect is captured by earning gains for men rather than for women living in the household.

Additional analysis suggests, that these gender differences, which can also be observed in terms of working time, hourly wage and employment status, appear plausible since women in the age cohort under consideration are less likely to engage in sports in general, and in any of the publicly funded sports facilities in particular. Moreover, improved well-being and health are possible mechanisms through which the positive labor market effects for men may unfold.

Funding: Supported by the German Research Foundation and the Swiss National Science Foundation

Reference: Pawlowski, T., Steckenleiter, C., Wallrafen, T., & Lechner, M. (2021). Individual labor market effects of local public expenditures on sports. Labour Economics, doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2021.101996

Paper: PDF

YouTube presentation: Reading Online Sport Economics Seminar (ROSES)

Press release:Förderung der Sportstätten wirkt sich positiv auf Gehälter vor Ort aus

Media reports:Der Spiegel,SPONSORs, SWR, Bayern 2

Background knowledge:Sanierungs- und Modernisierungsbedarf von 31 Milliarden Euro (Behörden Spiegel)

Sports in general plays a major role in the country. In their chapter, Marcel Fahrner and Tim Pawlowski describe some basic features of sports in the US including professional sports, collegiate sports, Olympic (elite) sports and leisure type physical activity. Key topics include discrimination and racism highlighting some current challenges for organised sports in the country.

YouTube: Report presentation during the Leipzig Book Fair

The programme also offers attractive opportunities for students to spend a semester abroad. Among others, there is a partnership with the Japanese Graduate School of Business at Rikkyo University – one of the top global universities in Japan.

Students with a Bachelor’s degree either in sports science or business/economics can apply. Applications are possible online until 15 June 2021.

Contact: Dr. Marcel Fahrner (study programme coordinator).

Preprint:@ResearchGate

Reference: Krumer, A., Otto, F. & Pawlowski, T. (2021). Nationalistic bias among international experts: Evidence from professional ski jumping. Scandinavian Journal of Economics, forthcoming.

YouTube: Reading Online Sport Economics Seminar (ROSES)

Media:Finland - Germany - Norway - Poland - Russia - Sweden - Ukraine

The task for the final round was to develop a PR campaign in order to generate support amongst the German population for hosting major sporting events. The jury was made up by renowned experts including Jörg Förster (Allgemeiner Deutscher Hochschulsportverband (adh), Chairman of the Board), Christian Alfs (PROPROJEKT, Project Director Sports Economics), Boris Mende (Federal Ministry of the Interior, Department Major Sporting Events), and Maria Bogner (Head of Olympic Study Centre, IOC, Lausanne).

The Institute of Sports Science congratulates Linus Aufleger, Felix Meyer, Claudia Santangelo, and Niklas Wolf for achieving an excellent first place.

Taking the structural reform of the German Handball Federation (DHB) “Perspektive 2020+” as case study, the analysis by Marcel Fahrner and Lara Lesch (Bielefeld University) provides new insights about the effects of organisational change in sports federations on, for instance, the distribution of power between volunteers and paid managers. These findings – which are backed up by organisational theory – might help in shaping future reform processes.

The research paper is based on the Master thesis project by Lara Lesch in the Tübingen M.Sc. Sport Management program and was recently published in the journal Sport und Gesellschaft – Sport and Society.

Fahrner, M. & Lesch, L. (2020). Organisationaler Wandel von Sportverbänden durch Änderungen in Vorstand und Vertretung (§ 26 BGB) – Eine Analyse am Beispiel des Deutschen Handballbundes [Organisational change of sports federations applying § 26 BGB – An analysis of the German Handball Federation reform]. Sport und Gesellschaft – Sport and Society, 17(2), 263-291.

Although empirical evidence on the relevance of competitive balance for sport fans is generally mixed, “it is certainly a competitive advantage for the Premier League to regularly have several - at least two or three - title contenders each season,“ said Tim Pawlowski recently in the British newspaper The Telegraph. His statement is backed up, for instance, by empirical findings coming from a study on soccer fans in the US.

Article in The Telegraph

Project report on US soccer fans

So far, however, the literature testing this claim empirically is inconclusive. This study explores whether (at least parts of) this confusion might be traced back to shortcomings in the econometric modelling process using attendance data for 1,138 games in German third division football from the 2015/16 to 2017/18 seasons.

The findings highlight the relevance of controlling for the selection bias when analyzing the impact of live broadcasting on stadium attendance. Even though there is suggestive evidence for postponing ticket demand to some extent to later games, the overall negative effect of live broadcasts on stadium attendance remains robust and large.

From a managerial point of view, the findings suggest that increasing the number of games broadcasted live in German third division football might not be advisable, since additional broadcasting revenues may not exceed predicted losses in ticket revenues.

The research paper was recently accepted for publication in the European Sport Management Quarterly.

Wallrafen, T., Deutscher, C. & Pawlowski, T. (2020). The Impact of Live Broadcasting on Stadium Attendance Reconsidered: Some Evidence from 3rd Division Football in Germany. European Sport Management Quarterly, doi: 10.1080/16184742.2020.1828967.

After graduating from the Master Program in Sport Management, she gained her first experience as an association sports teacher with the Mittelrhein Football Association and completed her professional qualification in 2019 with the highest coaching license in German professional football. During an internship Merk got in contact with the successful Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg. Since summer 2019, she has been working as an assistant to head coach Stephan Lerch and is responsible (amongst others) for analyzing each match.

After winning this year's national championship as well as the DFB Cup, the final of the UEFA Women's Champions League on August 30, 2020 was the highlight of her still young career. After the tight defeat in the final, the club is now preparing for the new Bundesliga season. The Institute wishes Theresa Merk all the best for her career and many more successful coaching years.

Link to the lecture.

Link to a related research paper.

Link to an interview for the magazine SPONSORs.

Using data of 242 board members of 65 NGBs from Germany, Marcel Fahrner and Spencer Harris (University of Colorado) examine the association between trust indicators, individual board membership characteristics, and the boards’ structural features.

The study’s findings illustrate that trust is a multifaceted phenomenon, affected by various (beneficial and detrimental) variables in the specific context of NGB boards. In this respect, board size, board members’ skill differentiation and temporal stability of boards appear to be particularly relevant. Furthermore, the study shows that NGBs need to reflect and strengthen their structures and processes with regard to their inherent potential to promote or hinder trust.

The research paper was recently accepted for publication in the European Sport Management Quarterly.

Fahrner, M. & Harris, S. Trust within sport NGB boards: Association with board structure and board member characteristics. European Sport Management Quarterly. DOI 10.1080/16184742.2020.1757735

Markus Sutera is alumni of the B.A. program in Sport Media and Communication and currently works for the German magazine “Der Spiegel”. His article “Ausgewechselt” (“Replaced”) (published on November 23, 2019 in “Der Spiegel”), which describes the pathway of a transsexual young soccer player, won the first prize in the competition for young journalists (topic: “Gender justice in sport”). The jury of the award, which is promoted by the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB), reasoned: “The text is linguistically excellent, very balanced and empathic in reflecting the disruptive feelings of the main character“.

Ski jumping competitions involve subjective evaluation of judges from different countries. This may lead to nationalistic bias, according to which judges assign higher scores to their compatriots. It may also create strategic voting, according to which judges would expect reciprocation from the other members of the judging panel for assigning high (or low) scores to their compatriots. Using data from all the World Cups, Nordic World Ski Championships, and Olympic Games for the seasons from 2010/11 to 2016/17, this paper finds that judges assign significantly higher scores to their compatriots. However, we find no evidence of strategic voting. Thus, truncation of extreme scores that is used in ski jumping competitions mitigates the nationalistic bias and makes the competition fairer.

Paper: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337192531_Nationalistic_bias_among_international_experts_Evidence_from_professional_ski_jumping

Social media such as Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram are playing an increasingly important role for the management of professional athletes and teams. These platforms allow for two-way interactions with fans, which can be used to build parasocial relationships. For this reason, it has been proposed that using social media may be an effective strategy for crisis communication.

In a mixed-method study, Sonja Utz (Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien and University of Tübingen), Felix Otto, and Tim Pawlowski (both University of Tübingen) focused on the early elimination of Germany during the 2018 FIFA World Cup to explore the effects of (crisis) communication on Facebook. They examined emoji reactions and used data from a two-wave panel to explore the changes in evaluation as well as parasocial relationships and perceived authenticity as potential mediators.

The findings suggest that the sender of a crisis communication matters: the (partly identical) posts by the individual players received fewer angry reactions than the posts from the team account. Only the team was evaluated more negatively after the World Cup than before. Moreover, a mediation analysis reveals the relevance of parasocial relationships when using social media as a communication channel.

The research paper was recently accepted for publication in the Journal of Sport Management.

Utz, S., Otto, F., & Pawlowski, T. (2020). “Germany crashes out of World Cup” A mixed-method study on the effects of crisis communication on Facebook. Journal of Sport Management, forthcoming.

During recent years, professional sports have developed into a multi-billion-dollar business around the globe. Also, leisure-type sports activities can be described as an important economic factor in many countries offering several ten thousand job opportunities nowadays – also in Germany. Moreover, sport has a socially inclusive and community-building effect.

In the context of the current discussions about economic and social impacts of corona-related restrictions on public life, SWR sport journalist Michael Bollenbacher talks to Marcel Fahrner and Ansgar Thiel about economic and social aspects of sport.

Since practicing sports implies physical activity, physical distance and infection prevention have a direct impact on all sport-related economic sectors and fields of action.

Both reports are part of SWR’s current key topic “Clubs and Corona in the Southwest”.

• Stütze, Motor, Arbeitgeber – die Bedeutung des Sports für die Gesellschaft
• Abgeschmettert und aufgegeben – VfB Friedrichshafen und TV Rottenburg im Vergleich

Verena Burk and Marcel Fahrner address these challenges in their chapter “Managing sports communication in the age of digital media” and take up topics such as distribution formats in the light of digitalization, challenges related to managing sports communication across borders and sports protagonists as producers and suppliers of media products.

Written by leading sport management and sport development scholars from around the world, the book highlights international management challenges, suggests appropriate management practices, and raises questions to stimulate further debate. From a commercial sport management perspective, it explores key topics including crowd funding in sports as well as managing government and commercial alliances, or managing power and politics. From a social justice perspective, it examines issues including sport volunteer management, the management of sport for inclusion, and academic partnerships in international sport management.

Goslin, A., Kluka, D. A., López de D'Amico, R., & Danylchuk, K. (2020). Managing Sport Across Borders. London: Taylor & Francis Ltd.

Under the umbrella of the Data Science and Sports Lab (DSSL), which is coordinated by Prof. Tim Pawlowski, researchers from the Institute of Sports Science and the Methods Center of the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences join forces with colleagues from other institutions and universities in order to explore different topics at the intersection of economics, psychology and sports science. Researchers aim at analyzing intensive longitudinal multilevel data from sports settings with machine learning methods. Six ongoing projects are organized in two research lines, i.e. Sports Consumer Behavior as well as Athletes, Teams and Performance. For further information, refer to the DSSL webpage.

One of the six projects is carried out in cooperation with the Cluster of Excellence “Machine Learning – New Perspectives for Science” (see Cluster News). Are you excited about the possibilities machine learning can bring to science? Apply now for a PhD position in this project, “Modelling Behavioral Responses to Emotional Cues in Sports – A Bayesian Approach” (Job Ad).

A second PhD position in sports economics, which will be affiliated with the DSSL, is open (see Job Ad).

The Institute of Sports Science at the University of Tübingen invites applications for a

PhD position (m/f/d, TV-L E13, 50%)

starting on 1st of October 2020 (limited to 3 years) with the objective of a scientific qualification (earning a PhD).

The position is assigned to the Department of Sport Economics, Sport Management & Media Research (Chair: Tim Pawlowski) and will be affiliated with the recently founded Data Science and Sports Lab in Tübingen.

The call is aimed at young scientists with a very good university degree in computer science, economics / econometrics, mathematics, or sports science / sport informatics / sport economics / sport management, and an interest in exploring sports related data with quantitative research methods (econometrics / data science).

Tasks

• Research in sport economics
• Teaching (2 hours) in the Bachelor study program

Desirable competencies

• High proficiency in both spoken and written English
• Experiences / expertise in quantitative research methods (econometrics / data science)
• Experiences / expertise in the use of statistical software packages (R and/or STATA)

Applications with the usual documents (letter of application, curriculum vitae, copies of certificates, publication list) should be sent in electronic form (as a single PDF, at most 5 MB) to tim.pawlowskispam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de before 1st of May 2020 (job interviews with potential candidates will take place in the first week of May via skype).

The University aims to increase the proportion of women in research and teaching and therefore urges suitable qualified women scientists to apply. Qualified international researchers are expressly invited to apply. Severely disabled persons with equal aptitude will be given preferential consideration.

Job Ad

Today, sports science research and teaching are highly differentiated. In research, there is a progressive orientation towards the respective scientific subjects and disciplines. In teaching, a great variety of bachelor’s and master’s degree programmes is evident. This results in problems in the self-image and positioning of sports science as an integrative cross-sectional science. In this handbook, renowned sports scientists present sports science sub-disciplines in a compact form: movement and training science, sports education, sports psychology, sports sociology, sports history, sports economics, and – for the first time – sports medicine. The aim of the handbook is to give high school graduates and first-year students of sports science professional insights, to give them orientation for their studies and to encourage them to reflect critically.

Burk, V. & Fahrner, M. (Hrsg.). (2020). Sportwissenschaft. Themenfelder, Theorien und Methoden (2. Auflage) [Sports Science. Topics, Theories and Methods; 2nd Edition]. München: UVK.

Alina Böhm (JC Heubach) from the Institute of Sports Science, University of Tübingen, won the title in the -70 kg category at the German Judo Championships on 25th and 26th January 2020 in Stuttgart. In the final, she won against Marlene Galandi from UJKC Potsdam. “The title is very important to me. It is my first title in the seniors’ class. It was an incredible feeling to win gold in Stuttgart in front of the home audience”, the judoka explained.

Next to Alina Böhm, two other students from the University of Tübingen were successful: Lukas Klemm (Medical Technology) and Fabian Hässner (Physics and Economics) - both from VfL Sindelfingen - achieved second and third places in the weight category up to 60 kg.

The Cluster of Excellence 'Machine Learning – New Perspectives for Science’ at the University of Tübingen invites applications for a

PhD position (m/f/d, TV-L E13, 65%)

to be filled as soon as possible.

The position is limited to three years. Depending upon the qualifying university degree of the applicant, affiliation with the International Max Planck Research School for Intelligent Systems (IMPRS-IS) is possible.

The call is aimed at young scientists with a very good university degree in computer science, mathematics, economics/econometrics, quantitative psychology/psychometrics, or sports science/sport informatics, advanced programming skills in R, and an interest in examining applications of machine learning methods in an interdisciplinary research project at the intersection of economics, psychology and sports science.

In this project, a theoretical focus is put on behavioral (sports) economics. A methodological focus is put on the development and application of Bayesian (dynamic latent variable) models that blend properties of multilevel models, time series models and generalized additive models. Content wise, the project is focused on behavioral responses to emotional cues in sports settings by exploiting intensive longitudinal multilevel data.

Principal Investigators are Tim Pawlowski and Augustin Kelava.

Applications with the usual documents (letter of application, curriculum vitae, copies of certificates, publication list) should be sent in electronic form (as a single PDF, at most 5 MB) to either or before 15th of May 2020. Questions can also be directed to either of them.

The University aims to increase the proportion of women in research and teaching and therefore urges suitable qualified women scientists to apply. Qualified international researchers are expressly invited to apply. Severely disabled persons with equal aptitude will be given preferential consideration.

Announcement 65%-PhD Position

The interdisciplinary project at the intersection of economics, psychology and sports science is focused on analyzing behavioral responses to emotional cues in sports settings with intensive longitudinal multilevel data. As such, the project intends to test theoretical concepts from behavioral (sports) economics by further developing and applying Bayesian (dynamic latent variable) models that blend properties of multilevel models, time series models and generalized additive models.

Announcement 65%-PhD Position

Athletes have the right to combine their sport and higher education careers (e.g., dual career), but differences in the recognition of the student-athlete’s status and availability of dual career programs and services exist worldwide.

The objective of an international study by Verena Burk (University of Tübingen) and several colleagues from Italy, Malta, Slovenia and Taiwan was to investigate the dual career phenomenon through the lens of student-athletes competing at the 2017 Summer Universiade.

Results show, that long absence from classes and financial uncertainty were among the most named problems in combining studies and elite sport. Moreover, the majority of the sample mentioned not to be familiar with dual career programs at all, envisaging national dual career policies at university and sport levels.

The study concludes that in order to strengthen the potential of the student-athletes in the future, a dual career network should be established among several stakeholders, for transnational cooperation and sharing of knowledge and best practices through extensive communication between policy-makers, practitioners and those having a strong supportive dual career role (e.g., parents, coaches, and university sport staff).

The corresponding research paper was recently published in PLOS ONE.

Condello, G., Capranica, L., Doupona, M., Varga, K. & Burk, V. (2019). Dual-career through the elite university student-athletes’ lenses: The international FISU-EAS survey. PLOS ONE, 14(10): e0223278. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0223278

The task in the final round was to analyze the reasons why the Rhine-Ruhr region in Germany should apply for hosting the Summer Universiade 2025. The jury was made up by renowned experts including Jörg Förster (Allgemeiner Deutscher Hochschulsportverband (adh) chairman of the board), Johanna Becker (adh board member), Annegret Korff (Federal Ministry of the Interior, Head of Major Sporting Events), Bernhard Schwank (State Chancellery NRW, Head of Sports Department), Stefan Klos (CEO PROPROJEKT) and Michael Schirp (German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB), Deputy Head Media Division). The students from Tübingen, Miriam Herbstritt, Annika Schiffner, Marius Schmid, and Felix Sedlacek, convinced the jury with their concept and achieved an excellent second place.

For seven years now, the event has been organized by the Sport Coordination Department of the broadcaster ARD in cooperation with team members of the Department Sport Economics, Sport Management and Media Research (University of Tübingen) and students from the Bachelor program “Sports Journalism/Media and Communication”.

The event was broadcasted via livestream on sportschau.de and is available in the media library.

Press: Deutscher Basketball Bund; leichtathletik.de

The  Rikkyo University is a private university in Tokyo/Japan with around 20,000 students. Since 2014, the university belongs to the  Top Global Universities in Japan and cooperates with the University of Tübingen also in other study programs offered by the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences.

Application ISM Certificate

The 610 pages handbook is available from November 11, 2019. A preview is available here.

The study program offers comprehensive training and education in various fields such as Sport Economics, Sport Media and Communication and Governance in Sports. Moreover, it offers various possibilities for studies abroad such as a joint certificate program with the Japanese Graduate School of Business of the Rikkyo University – one of the Top Global Universities in Japan.

The online article is available here.

Teams that scored the most points during the Management Game were awarded on the last day. Students from Tübingen participated (amongst others) in the top three teams.

Using data of 142 alumni of the Tübingen Sport Management Programs who already have entered professional life, Marcel Fahrner and Ute Schüttoff (both University of Tübingen) examine the association of occupational context factors and the job-related relevance of competencies (assessed by sport management alumni).

The study’s findings illustrate that different sport management positions seem to be characterised by their own features, and that jobs differ quite clearly with regard to competency requirements. Furthermore, the analysis indicates that adopting competencies as the organising principle of curricula should lead programme designers and teachers to move away from transmitting decontextualised knowledge and expertise.

The research paper was recently accepted for publication in the European Sport Management Quarterly.

Fahrner, M., & Schüttoff, U. (2019). Analysing the context-specific relevance of competencies – Sport management alumni perspectives. European Sport Management Quarterly. DOI: 10.1080/16184742.2019.1607522