A Brief Analysis of the Correlation Between Budget and Performance in Romanian Soccer
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24193/subbeag.70(3).24Keywords:
budget, sport performance, rank correlationAbstract
Starting from the widely held idea in Romanian football (and not only) that a higher budget is almost the only requirement for better performance for a club, our study investigates the existence and intensity of such a correlation. At the same time, we sought to deepen the correlations within club expenditures, through those related to the player roster as an expression of its value, where we expect a to see a higher intensity in relation to sports results. Due to data availability considerations, the analysis is limited to the latest seasons of the domestic championship. The approach is based on rank correlation, and the tools used are Kendall’s coefficient and Spearman’s coefficient. The results obtained confirm expectations regarding the existence of a direct relationship between the amounts spent by a club and its position in the rankings, but the intensity of this correlation is significantly lower than expected, at least at the level of total expenditures.
Article history: Received 2025 August 18; Revised 2025 September 30; Accepted 2025 October 09;
Available online 2025 November 20; Available print 2025 November 30
References
ACS Petrolul 52 Ploiești (2025). Contul de profit si pierderi (Financial Statement) 2024. https://fcpetrolul.ro/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/CONTUL-DE-PROFIT-SI-PERDERE2024.pdf
ACS Sepsi OSK Sfântu Gheorghe (2025). Contul de profit si pierderi (Financial Statement) 2024. https://sepsiosk.ro/index.php/ro/?option=com_attachments&task=download&id=72
ACS Suporter Club Oțelul Galați (2025). Financial Statement 2024. https://ascotelul.ro/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/situatii-financiare-24-de-publicat.pdf
ACSM Politehnica Iași (2025). Financial Statement 2024. https://www.politehnicaiasi.ro/ckfinder/userfiles/files/CONT_PROFIT_SI_PIERDERI_2025.pdf
AFC Botoșani (2025). Financial Statement 2024. https://fcbt.ro/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/SKMBT_C45425042609240.pdf
AFC Hermannstadt (2025). Contul de profit si pierderi (Financial Statement) 2024. https://fchermannstadt.ro/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/CONTUL-DE-PROFIT-SI-PIERDERE-2024-2025.pdf
AFC UTA Arad (2025). Contul de profit si pierderi (Financial Statement) 2024. https://www.uta-arad.ro/informatii-financiare
AS FC Universitatea Cluj (2025). Contul de profit si pierderi (Financial Statement) 2024. https://www.fcucluj.ro/cont-profit-pierderi-uefa
Arnold, A. J. (1991). An industry in decline? The trend in football league gate receipts. Service Industries Journal, Vol. 11(2), pp. 179-188. Doi.org/10.1080/02642069100000027
Brandon, B. (2024). Does Money Really Buy Success? Empirical Analysis of Money Spent Effect on English Premier League Team’s Performances/Success: A Panel Data Analysis. Empirical Economic Bulletin. Vol 17.
CS Farul Constanța (2025). Contul de profit si pierderi (Financial Statement) 2024. https://www.farulconstanta.com/plugins/ckfinder/userfiles/files/Informatii%20financiare%202025/Contul%20de%20profit%20si%20pierderi%202025.pdf
CS Universitatea Craiova (2025). Contul de profit si pierderi (Financial Statement) 2024. https://www.ucv1948.ro/upload/files/CPP%20-%202024.pdf
Dimitropoulos, P. E. & Limperopoulos, V. (2014). Player contracts, athletic and financial performance of the Greek football clubs. Global Business and Economics Review, Vol. 16(2), pp. 123-141. Doi.org/10.1504/GBER.2014.060181
FC CFR 1907 Cluj (2025). Contul de profit si pierderi (Financial Statement) 2024. https://cfr1907.ro/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Contul-de-profit-si-pierdere-consolidat-2024.pdf
FC Rapid 1923 București (2025). Contul de profit si pierderi (Financial Statement) 2024. https://www.fcrapid.ro/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Contul-de-Profit-si-Pierdere-consolidat-la-31.12.2024.pdf
Ferri, L., Macchioni, R., Maffei, M. & Zampella, A. (2017) Financial Versus Sports Performance: The Missing Link. International Journal of Business and Management. Vol. 12, No. 3, pp. 36-48. DOI:10.5539/ijbm.v12n3p36.
F.R.F. (2025, April 17). Situațiile financiare ale anului 2024 pentru cluburile care participă în Superliga în sezonul 2024–2025 și sumele alocate către academiile de copii și juniori | FEDERAȚIA ROMÂNĂ DE FOTBAL https://www.frf.ro/comunicari/comunicate-frf/.
Kulikova, L. & Goshunova, A. V. (2013). Measuring efficiency of professional football club in contemporary researches. World Applied Sciences Journal, Vol. 25(2), pp. 247–257. DOI: 10.5829/idosi.wasj.2013.25.02.13307.
Lazar D., Buiga A., Dragoș C., Brendea G., Litan C., Mare C. & Filip D. (2019) Statistică descriptivă. Suport de curs. Cluj-Napoca. Suport de curs ID MG statistica descriptiva.pdf (https://cursuri.elearning.ubbcluj.ro/pluginfile.php/14870/course/overviewfiles/Suport%20de%20curs%20ID%20MG%20statistica%20descriptiva.pdf)
Leksowski, L. (2021) Relationship between sport and financial performance in top European football clubs. The Małopolska School of Economics in Tarnów Research Papers Collection. Vol. 49(1), pp. 41–59. DOI: 10.25944/znmwse.2021.01.4159.
Sakinc, I., Acikalin, S. & Soyguden, A. (2017) Evaluation of the Relationship between Financial Performance and Sport Success in European Football. Journal of Physical Education and Sport, Vol 17 Supplement issue 1, Art 3, pp. 16 – 22. DOI:10.7752/jpes.2017.s1003
SC FC Dinamo București (2025). Contul de profit si pierderi (Financial Statement) 2024. https://dinamo1948.ro/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Dinamo_CPP_2024.pdf
SC Fotbal Club FCSB (2025). Contul de profit si pierderi (Financial Statement) 2024 https://www.fcsb.ro/img/financiar/Contuldeprofitsipierdere2023-2024.pdf.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Studia Universitatis Babeş-Bolyai Educatio Artis Gymnasticae
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
