Brand Teams and Distribution of Wealth in Brazilian State Championships

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the demand for tickets in the Brazilian State Championships focusing in the impact generated by the brand teams as well as the play-off matches in the demand for tickets and, consequently, in the match day revenues.Design/methodology/approach – An equations system by three-stage least square estimator is employed. The data set comprises 1,114 matches from Mineiro, Carioca and Paulista Championships over the seasons 2013-2015.Findings – All explanatory variables increase both attendance and match day revenues. However, the most important goal is the distribution of wealth found. The presence of brand teams in those championships provides a financial aid for smaller teams.Practical implications – The proposals from the mass media to exclude the brand teams and design those championships exclusively in play-off stages should not be implemented by the policymakers. On the contrary, rearranging the design of the competition with more matches between small teams and brand teams may help all of them.Originality/value – The paper contributes to introduce the Brazilian State Championships in the sport economics literature as well as evidences the redistribution effect of wealth among clubs