Uncertainty of outcome versus reputation: Empirical evidence for the First German Football Division

This paper deals with the determinants of match attendance in the German premier football league. We analyse uncertainty measures of match outcome as well as uncertainty of championship outcome. Furthermore, we incorporate supporter clubs, reputation, performance measures and weather effects as explanatory variables. Due to the limited capacity of the stadiums, observations on attendance are right censored in our sample. While other authors use the ordinary least squares estimator, which is inconsistent in this framework, we take this restriction implicitly in consideration by using a Tobit model. In conclusion, we show that reputation and goodwill are more important for attendance levels than the thrill of outcome uncertainty.¹ First version received: September 1999/Final version received: January 2001