The effects of overseas exhibition games on consumer interest: the case of the English Premier League
研究了英超俱乐部在美国举办表演赛对当地消费者付费意愿和收视率的影响，发现表演赛能提升需求，但效果主要由顶级品牌驱动且随时间减弱。
Research question This paper attempts to disentangle the impact of overseas exhibition games, a strategic marketing tool frequently implemented by professional sports clubs in their endeavors to expand into foreign markets, on demand. As such, it contributes to the recently growing literature examining the internationalization processes of leagues and clubs.Research methods We implement two different studies. Study 1 analyzes the effects of games played by English Premier League (EPL) clubs in the US in summer 2015 on US residents’ willingness to pay (WTP) for add-on football packages on television. In doing so, we exploit the panel structure of geocoded data collected in two representative surveys and use inverse-probability-weighted regression adjustment estimators. Study 2 focuses on regional audience data on EPL games televised in the US. We account both for summer 2014 and 2015 exhibition games by implementing propensity score stratification.Results and findings Overall, we find that exhibition games played by EPL clubs have a positive effect on both the WTP for TV subscription packages as well as viewership. Further analysis reveals that these effects are primarily driven by top brands traveling abroad (though also some spillover benefits on EPL-wide demand emerge) and dissipate over time.Implications Facilitating the organization of overseas exhibition games seems reasonable from a commercial point of view for league management. For broadcasters, requiring certain top brands to participate in preseason tours in their national markets might be essential if they seek to improve their return on investment.