Football clubs’ social awareness as a leading strategy for performance: A fan token-based panel data analysis

This paper analyses the extent to which football clubs’ emotional value —fan token-based— is related to economic value—share-based. Specifically, this research investigates the relationship between fan tokens and stock prices in European football clubs, aiming to discern fan engagement’s impact on f...

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Main Authors: Julen Castillo-Apraiz, Raúl Gómez-Martínez, Jesús Manuel Palma-Ruiz
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidad del País Vasco (UPV/EHU) 2025-03-01
Series:Management Letters/Cuadernos de Gestión
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ojs.ehu.eus/index.php/CG/article/view/27433
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author Julen Castillo-Apraiz
Raúl Gómez-Martínez
Jesús Manuel Palma-Ruiz
author_facet Julen Castillo-Apraiz
Raúl Gómez-Martínez
Jesús Manuel Palma-Ruiz
author_sort Julen Castillo-Apraiz
collection DOAJ
description This paper analyses the extent to which football clubs’ emotional value —fan token-based— is related to economic value—share-based. Specifically, this research investigates the relationship between fan tokens and stock prices in European football clubs, aiming to discern fan engagement’s impact on financial market dynamics. We posit that fan token values are significantly linked to the valuation of clubs’ stocks. To assess this, a panel data analysis employing econometric models is conducted on six prominent football clubs that regularly participate in European competitions. The study period covers comprehensive data on fan token values and stock prices from 2022-2023. The findings reveal a positive and statistically significant correlation between fan token evolution and stock price movement. Individual ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions further confirm this trend. Moreover, a long/short strategy backtest emphasizes the substantial relationship between fan token evolution and stock performance. Hence, we demonstrate that clubs’ emotional perceptions —for which sustainability plays a key role— help predict clubs’ economic results. In other words, we demonstrate that being socially responsible is a strategy that could lead clubs to obtain a competitive advantage by improving fans’ perceptions, which in turn would have a positive impact on clubs’ performance. This study sheds light on the potential influence of fan engagement on football clubs’ financial market standing, offering insights crucial for stakeholders navigating the intersection of sports and finance.
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publishDate 2025-03-01
publisher Universidad del País Vasco (UPV/EHU)
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spelling doaj-art-e938fed973934a78a8723ea7ff28769d2025-08-20T03:41:57ZengUniversidad del País Vasco (UPV/EHU)Management Letters/Cuadernos de Gestión1131-68371988-21572025-03-01251375410.5295/cdg.242230jpFootball clubs’ social awareness as a leading strategy for performance: A fan token-based panel data analysisJulen Castillo-Apraiz0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8362-4163Raúl Gómez-Martínez1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3575-7970Jesús Manuel Palma-Ruiz2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1039-6243Department of Financial Economics II (Economía de la Empresa y Comercialización), University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Calle Av. Lehendakari Aguirre 83, 48015 Bilbao (Spain)Departamento de Economía de la Empresa, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28032 Madrid (Spain)Facultad de Economía Internacional, Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua, 31000, Chihuahua (Mexico)This paper analyses the extent to which football clubs’ emotional value —fan token-based— is related to economic value—share-based. Specifically, this research investigates the relationship between fan tokens and stock prices in European football clubs, aiming to discern fan engagement’s impact on financial market dynamics. We posit that fan token values are significantly linked to the valuation of clubs’ stocks. To assess this, a panel data analysis employing econometric models is conducted on six prominent football clubs that regularly participate in European competitions. The study period covers comprehensive data on fan token values and stock prices from 2022-2023. The findings reveal a positive and statistically significant correlation between fan token evolution and stock price movement. Individual ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions further confirm this trend. Moreover, a long/short strategy backtest emphasizes the substantial relationship between fan token evolution and stock performance. Hence, we demonstrate that clubs’ emotional perceptions —for which sustainability plays a key role— help predict clubs’ economic results. In other words, we demonstrate that being socially responsible is a strategy that could lead clubs to obtain a competitive advantage by improving fans’ perceptions, which in turn would have a positive impact on clubs’ performance. This study sheds light on the potential influence of fan engagement on football clubs’ financial market standing, offering insights crucial for stakeholders navigating the intersection of sports and finance.https://ojs.ehu.eus/index.php/CG/article/view/27433fan tokensfootball clubsstock pricessocially responsible investingcorporate social responsibilitypanel data analysis
spellingShingle Julen Castillo-Apraiz
Raúl Gómez-Martínez
Jesús Manuel Palma-Ruiz
Football clubs’ social awareness as a leading strategy for performance: A fan token-based panel data analysis
Management Letters/Cuadernos de Gestión
fan tokens
football clubs
stock prices
socially responsible investing
corporate social responsibility
panel data analysis
title Football clubs’ social awareness as a leading strategy for performance: A fan token-based panel data analysis
title_full Football clubs’ social awareness as a leading strategy for performance: A fan token-based panel data analysis
title_fullStr Football clubs’ social awareness as a leading strategy for performance: A fan token-based panel data analysis
title_full_unstemmed Football clubs’ social awareness as a leading strategy for performance: A fan token-based panel data analysis
title_short Football clubs’ social awareness as a leading strategy for performance: A fan token-based panel data analysis
title_sort football clubs social awareness as a leading strategy for performance a fan token based panel data analysis
topic fan tokens
football clubs
stock prices
socially responsible investing
corporate social responsibility
panel data analysis
url https://ojs.ehu.eus/index.php/CG/article/view/27433
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AT jesusmanuelpalmaruiz footballclubssocialawarenessasaleadingstrategyforperformanceafantokenbasedpaneldataanalysis