Financial and sporting efficiency and productivity in Brazilian football clubs

Purpose
This paper analyses the efficiency and productivity of Brazilian football clubs in the post-world cup 2014 period (2014–2022) using a network dynamic DEA-Malmquist model.

Design/methodology/approach
Financial and sporting efficiency and productivity in Brazilian football clubs.

Findings
The financial division’s average efficiency is higher than that of the sporting division and overall efficiency from 2014 to 2022. Fourteen clubs exhibited increased productivity during this period. Regression models revealed a statistically significant positive relationship between the debt ratio and DEA dependent variable models at a 1% significance level and a significant negative relationship with the three Malmquist dependent variable models. Additionally, the models identified a statistically significant relationship with the “Covid” (2020 years) variable across all models.

Practical implications
Our findings suggest that increased expenditures can lead to higher liabilities, reducing the ability to afford high-quality players and thus diminishing overall club value. Additionally, the inefficiencies observed among some of the largest football clubs reveal room for improvement in both financial and sportive aspects.

Originality/value
This is the first study to investigate efficiency and productivity in two dimensions for Brazilian football clubs, incorporating an analysis of productivity over an extended period and examining the impact of debt and other determinants on club performance.