The Determinants of the TV Demand for Soccer: Empirical Evidence on Italian Serie A for the Period 2008-2015

This article investigates the determinants of the TV audience for Italian soccer in seven Serie A seasons (2008-2009 to 2014-2015). Italian viewers have committed behavior and that outcome uncertainty does not have an impact on the TV audience. When choosing whether to watch a match involving teams other than their favorite team, Italian consumers are attracted by both the aggregate quantity of talent and the matches involving teams at the top of the table. An increase in the TV demand is driven by an enhancement in the performance of the top clubs and in the quality of the entertainment.