Measuring efficiency and sustainable growth in Spanish football teams

Abstract

For a long time now professional football clubs have been deemed to be a special business, because of the need to attain two different objectives together, namely, success on the field and success in business performance.

In this sense, business success is likely to generate on-field success as the ability to purchase talented players increases, to contract the best trainers that outline the most advanced sport strategies, etc. To achieve these goals, clubs must organize their resources and adapt their financial structure to be able to attain acceptable efficiency levels as well as an adequate sustainable growth.

Only two decades ago the Spanish Sports Law (1990) came into effect to bring about a substantial change in professional football. Prior to this, clubs were non-profit institutions. Thereafter Spanish football was divided into two groups: professional and amateur football teams. Moreover, the Decree of 1991 (15 July) meant that professional football teams were obliged to become sports stock companies, with the exception of four clubs: Real Madrid CF, FC Barcelona, Athletic de Bilbao and Osasuna de Pamplona.

Within this framework, the professional football team managers have to be capable of applying managerial practice because professional football clubs are real businesses, although they are always subject to special circumstances of success on the field. For this reason, recent economic research into this sector is gaining increasing importance (Guzmán and Morrow, 2007).