Sport o business? Il calcio-mercato si rivela

ABSTRACT: This article aims at analyzing the behaviors of football clubs in the market of football players. Although the acquisition of a new talent discloses, in the eyes of the fans, the hopes for future sporting successes of their favorite team, the right to multi-year performances of the athletes represents, at the same time, for many clubs, the only asset available to be sold and generate immediate revenues. So what drives clubs to buy and sell players? Our work tries to answer the question of whether the sporting logic of chasing victory, or the pursuit of financial stability prevails in the choices of the Italian Serie A clubs, or whether both logics are harmonious. Our empirical analysis based on the data of 36 teams that played in Serie A from 2005 to 2017, for a total of 256 observations, confirms that the sale of players responds above all to business and accounting logics, rather than technical and sporting ones. Our panel analysis shows that the capital gains from the sale of players are positively associated with the financial result, and in particular with the net debt accumulated.