Title: Historical evolution of competitive balance in the Mexican football league: a time series analysis, 1943-2015

Authors: Raúl Vázquez-López

Addresses: Institute of Economic Research, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Guerrero 340 E-419, N. Tlatelolco, C.P. 06900, Mexico City, Mexico

Abstract: This paper employs the Bai-Perron (BP) approach to perform a time series analysis of two measures of competitive balance (CB) in the unexplored area of the Mexican football league. A significant break point where CB experienced a substantial reduction is found. The time of the break point coincides with a modification of the league's regulations, which implemented two short tournaments instead of a single annual season to increase the revenue by doubling the final playoff games. This paper also establishes a first periodisation of the league's evolution, from its professionalisation in 1943 to 2015, on the basis of key historical events. In defence of the invariance principle, elements of collusion do not seem to have repercussions in CB. Nevertheless, the findings support the argument regarding the potential of significant regulatory changes to affect competitive equilibrium in sports contests.

Keywords: competitive balance; soccer; time series; break points; sports economics; Bai-Perron; football; Mexico.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSMM.2023.130699

International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing, 2023 Vol.23 No.3, pp.255 - 273

Accepted: 26 May 2022
Published online: 03 May 2023 *

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