U.S. Demand for European Soccer Telecasts: A Between-Country Test of the Uncertainty of Outcome Hypothesis

Abstract

Demand studies in sports relying on within-country settings are suggestive of cross-continental differences with regard to game uncertainty preferences. While North Americans seem to have a preference for tighter games, Europeans prefer games involving a favorite. Our study is the first to test this suggested pattern in a between-country setting with individual-level data. In contrast to the existing evidence from within-country settings, our demand models show that U.S. consumers do not value game uncertainty when watching European soccer. This finding suggests that, when examining the same sport, European and North American consumers’ preferences seem to be quite similar.