Apply rigorous framework to premier league football, say researchers

Leading figures in Scottish football believe that the game is "boring" and that fans are "losing interest", according to a major research project from the University of Glasgow's business school.

The MBA study carried out by Alec Pearson, which focused on the application of business frameworks to football, concluded that multimillion-pound TV deals have had a negative impact on the sport, acting as "a sticking plaster on deep-rooted problems." 

The study comes in the week in which the Scottish Premier League inked an £80 million deal with satellite broadcasters Sky and ESPN.

The report goes on to say that "the facts suggest a decline in the product, club revenues and attendances since the inception of the SPL in 1998.

"Scottish football is dominated by the Old Firm but we are about to enter uncharted territory. The longest gap between non-Old Firm league title wins stands at 27 years spanning 1905 when Third Lanark won the league and 1932, when Motherwell were crowned champions. If either half of the Old Firm wins in season 2011-12 we will match that 27 year gap, with little prospect of a meaningful title challenge in the foreseeable future.”

Previous attempts to make the Scottish game more attractive to both fans and television broadcasters have included league reconstruction. According to Pearson: “The introduction of the SPL coincided with a boom in satellite TV broadcasting of games. Today some SPL chairmen and directors argue that, over the long term, satellite TV has actually reduced revenue available to SPL clubs. Ticket sales, unlike other leagues across Europe, are the SPL’s most important revenue stream. With ready access to live English and European games, the relative poverty of our domestic game is being exposed. Negative perceptions of the product and increased choice of alternatives have meant a marked decrease in average attendances.”

Robert MacIntosh, professor of strategy at the University of Glasgow, argues that keeping crowds enthralled is the key, saying: “The worry is no longer that there are buses leaving from all over Scotland which drain support from the natural catchment of other teams.

"The real worry is that younger fans, brought up with wall to wall Champions League football and FIFA 2012, won’t see our domestic game as anything like as attractive as following one of a handful of global teams such as Barcelona.”