Extraordinary Funding and a Financially Viable Football Industry—Friends or Foes? A Norwegian Football League Perspective

Abstract

Financial distress has been frequently addressed in the sports business and management literature; however, surprisingly little attention has been devoted to implications for financial viability derived from funding beyond what the Union of European Football Association (UEFA) defines as relevant income in football, henceforth referred to as extraordinary funding. This study critically discusses and reflects upon whether extraordinary funding can contribute to financial viability. To address this issue, we draw on approximately 100 financial statements for Norwegian top division clubs and their cooperating companies for three fiscal years. Results indicate that, although extraordinary funding contributes with sorely needed funds, thus from the outset contributing in making clubs more robust, the manner in which extraordinary funding occurs is still of great importance from a viability perspective. In this respect, it is useful to distinguish clearly between ex ante and ex post funding. While ex post funding can be argued to be counter-productive to financial viability (e.g., cloaking inadequate finances, providing incentives for overspending, and rewarding clubs that overspend), ex ante funding is more in line with sound financial management (e.g., funds that are contingent upon a history of sound finances, incorporated in budgets). One important implication of this study is that ex post funding can contribute to crowding out of good practices, as clubs that overspend can be rewarded for their actions by having funds injected ex post.