Market potential as an indicator for the size of a new relocated football arena: The case KAA Gent a Belgian professional football team

The place of Gent in the urban system is that of a regional city with high centrality. This means that consumer-oriented services with a high threshold, such as a professional football team, reach their threshold in the city. In the case of professional football a functional substitution has taken place and the top team is located in Brugge The service area of Bruges reaches almost up to Gent and the E40 highway reduces the time-distance. The new location of the stadium is near the main highway.. The question is of the market potential of the clubs is large enough to attract more attendances.local identity, relocation, functional substitution, service area, market potential, consumer oriented service, spatial competition

Football in Belgium from centre to semi-periphery: Analyzing the financial ground

The facts show that in the given economic environment a restructuring of the Belgian professional football league is necessary for several reasons. First, to provide some form of “limited” competition with other European countries. Second, the introduction of the licence system by the Belgian Football Association in 2000-01 and by the UEFA in 2004-05, because clubs would no longer be allowed to have debts to the social security system, inland revenue, players,etc, Third, to stop the gradually increasing number of bankruptcies since the introduction of the licence system. Historical reasons and conservatism make a transition very difficult.sports economics

The importance of market size in the consumer service professional football: the Belgian case

The problem with Belgian football competition is that in the long run, and as reality shows us in the short term, the contemporary situation will lead to market failures and the elimination of some of the clubs. The solution proposed in this paper is the creation of a new professional competition with fewer teams combined with territorial exclusivity in a centre with a potential number of consumers that reach a certain absolute or relative threshold.sports economics, soccer

Competitive balance between national leagues in European football after the Bosman Case

Introduction – 1. The Bosman Case: No Harmful Side Effects? – 2. Structural Differences and Developments – 3. Empirical Evidence – 4. Future Options – ConclusionsBosman Case, competitive balance, professional team sports, European football

The consequences of an open labour market in a closed product market in the economic environment of European professional football

Ever since the Bosman case opened the labour market for players in European professional football, competitive balance has reduced in favour of the Big 5 leagues (England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France). In this article we show that changing structures towards an open labour market in a closed product market resulted in a migration of player talents towards the major leagues and teams and in a competitive disadvantage for the smaller market leagues and their teams. Next to a theoretical argumentation, we provide empirical evidence and assess future options for the structure of European professional football.Bosman case, competitive balance, international labour mobility, professional team sports, stepping stone league

Editorial. Sports Geography : an overview

Geographical studies of sports are not new. The first time that sport was mentioned in a geographical publication was in 1879 when Elisée Réclus said something about cricket in his Géographie Universelle. In 1919 Hilderbrand published in the National Geographic Magazine The Geography of Games. A few years later in 1927, the German geographer Hettner (quoted in Elkins, 1989) suggested that among other things, the variations in health, hygiene, recreation and education could be “apprehended as ..

The market potential of a club as an indicator for the size of a new relocated football arena : The case KAA Gent

In many cities throughout Europe sport has been used as a tool for economic regeneration. In the case of the Belgian city Gent we can ask ourselves the question whether that strategy is or is not going to be used. Gent is already an important university centre, harbour, tourist centre and industrial city and the new sport infrastructure, such as an indoor athletic arena, an indoor velodrome, a top sports school and hotel and in the nearby future the “Artevelde football stadium” are located in areas that did not need any form of regeneration. The reason for building a new football stadium can be explained by looking at the location of the old stadium. The “Ottenstadium” is located in a densely populated neighbourhood and the local residents have to face negative spill-over effects. The city of Gent is the owner of the grounds and categorized the stadium as a locally unwanted land use. The local government already bought the old stadium for 3.5 million euro and will convert it into a new residential neighbourhood.The club and Gent are dovetailing this project with a growth strategy for KAA Gent and it can be considered as a form of community self-esteem, creating a local identity and topophilia. The club had an average attendance of 8,000 and a lot of football fans have been taking the main highway E40 to Bruges (FC Bruges) and to a lesser extent to Brussel (SC Anderlecht).The KAA Chairman aims to increase attendances to a stable 11,000 to 12,000 people.The place of Gent in the urban system is that of a regional city with high centrality. This means that consumer-oriented services with a high threshold, such as a professional football team, reach their threshold in the city. In the case of professional football a functional substitution has taken place and the top team is located in Brugge. The service area of Bruges reaches almost up to Gent and the E40 highway reduces the time-distance. The new location of the stadium is near the main highway and away from Lokeren, the location of another first division team with which KAA at one time wanted to merge. Dejonghe (2001; 2004c) already noticed that travelling “across” a city to visit a stadium is a psychological barrier , which means that in case of a merger the fans of SC Lokeren will ignore the new team. The location of the Artevelde stadium is also away from its local fan base and can in the long term result in declining attendances.Dans nombre de villes à travers l’Europe, le sport a été utilisé comme instrument de régénération économique. Dans le cas de la ville belge de Gand, nous pouvons nous demander si cette stratégie sera ou non d’application. Gand est déjà un important centre universitaire, un port, un centre touristique ainsi qu’une ville industrielle, et les nouvelles infrastructures sportives (stade d’athlétisme et vélodrome couverts, école de sport de haut niveau, hôtel, et bientôt le stade de football Artevelde) sont situées dans des zones ne nécessitant aucune forme de régénération. La raison de la construction d’un nouveau stade de foot peut s’expliquer par rapport à la localisation de l’ancien stade, le “Ottenstadium”. Celui-ci est en effet situé dans un quartier très peuplé, et les résidents subissent des retombées négatives. La ville de Gand, propriétaire du terrain, a classé le stade comme localement indésirable du point de vue de l’utilisation du sol et le gouvernement local en a déjà fait l’acquisition pour la somme de 3,5 millions d’euro en vue d’une reconversion en quartier résidentiel.Le club et la Ville de Gand font concorder ce projet avec une stratégie de croissance pour le KAA Gent, une démarche dans laquelle on peut voir une forme d’estime de soi communautaire, génératrice d’identité locale et de topophilie. Le club recevait en moyenne un public de 8000 personnes, dont beaucoup ont pris l’autoroute E40 vers Bruges (FC Bruges) et, dans une moindre mesure, vers Bruxelles (SC Anderlecht). Le Président du club souhaiterait stabiliser son public autour de 11 à 12000 personnes.La place de Gand dans le système urbain est celle d’une ville régionale à haute centralité. Ceci signifie que les services orientés vers le consommateur et présentant un seuil élevé – telle une équipe de foot professionnelle – atteignent ce seuil dans la ville même. Dans le cas du football professionnel, une substitution des fonctions s’est produite, et l’équipe de tête est située à Bruges. L’aire de services de Bruges s’étend pratiquement jusqu’à Gand, et l’autoroute E40 réduit la distance-temps. La nouvelle localisation du stade est proche de l’autoroute principale et assez éloignée de Lokeren, berceau d’une autre équipe de première division avec laquelle KAA Gent a voulu fusionner voici un certain temps. Dejonghe (2001, 2004c) a déjà souligné que le fait de devoir “traverser” une ville pour rejoindre un stade constitue une barrière psychologique, ce qui signifie qu’en cas de fusion les fans du SC Lokeren se désintéresseront de la nouvelle équipe. La situation du stade Artevelde est également éloignée de sa base locale de supporters et pourrait, à long terme, entraîner une baisse de la fréquentation

Editorial. Sports Geography : an overview

Geographical studies of sports are not new. The first time that sport was mentioned in a geographical publication was in 1879 when Elisée Réclus said something about cricket in his Géographie Universelle. In 1919 Hilderbrand published in the National Geographic Magazine The Geography of Games. A few years later in 1927, the German geographer Hettner (quoted in Elkins, 1989) suggested that among other things, the variations in health, hygiene, recreation and education could be “apprehended as ..