TV broadcasting of major football tournaments in Russia: Economic context and consumer preferences

Abstract

The study evaluates the economic context of major football competition broadcasts as well as identifies the determinants of their viewership in Russia. The authors perform a multivariate linear regression in order to derive the significant factors that explain the popularity of televised football matches. The research sample includes 300 games from World Cups and European Championships, which were broadcasted via Russian federal channels from 2006 to 2016. The list of independent variables includes week-day and time of broadcasts, tournament stage, channel, match quality, fans' preferences, "patriotism" and in-game changes. As a result, it was determined that ex ante variables show a much higher predictive power than gamespecific factors. A few surprising findings are worth highlighting: weekday broadcasts were able to attract a larger audience compared to weekend matches; if Russian referee was officiating the game, then its broadcast would experience an increase in spectators' interest. In conclusion, the findings of this paper are compared with previous researches.