The Monetary Value of Having a First Division Bundesliga Team to Local Residents

This study examines the monetary value of having a first division Bundesliga team to local residents of 12 Football Bundesliga teams using the contingent valuation method. In identical online and paper-pencil questionnaires, respondents were confronted with two hypothetical scenarios: the first asked for their willingness-to-pay for a voluntary fund that would save the team from relegation due to financial problems; the second assessed their willingness-to-accept relegation in a decisive match on the last match day of the season. The results of double-hurdle models reveal that both public goods created by the team (e. g., happiness, talking about the team) and intangible benefits of the team’s first division status have a monetary value to respondents. Management and policy implications are discussed.