Static Competitive Balance of Three Chosen Central European Football Leagues *** Jan Šíma *1 - Jan Procházka **2 ABSTRACT The study deals with measuring and evaluating the static competitive balance in the Czech, Austrian and Hungarian leagues. Static balance measures how much the teams’ position in the league tables differs in the tables of each year. It is calculated with the use of standard deviations in the percentage of wins. With the help of graphic representation, the results of this study show the static competitive balance evolution of the chosen leagues in the latest 43 seasons and they help to find the trends. In the long term, the highest static balance is in the Czechoslovak-Czech league. However, the Austrian and Hungarian leagues are more balanced in the latest years. All three studied leagues experience visible decreases of their relative levels of competitive balance. Key words: Competitive balance; Static competitive balance; Football; Austrian league; Czech league; Hungarian league. JEL classification: L83 Introduction Competitive balance can be defined as a balance between the sports abilities of individuals or teams. Hence, we can say that it means a similar sportive quality, uniform physical and psychical endowment, equal chances to success or uncertainty of result. Szymanski (2001) sees match uncertainty as the main criterion of competitive balance; it can mean seasonal uncertainty (during one season) or championship uncertainty (the champion is not certain) – we speak of dominance (or not) of a few teams between seasons. Sloane (2003) stresses the many facets of competitive balance. He also differentiates between short-term and long-term result uncertainty. From the long-term viewpoint, the dominance of a few teams is crucial. Cairns, Jennett and Sloane (1986) have another interpretation of competitive balance – uncertainty of the match, of the season, absence of long-term dominance. Other authors speak of continuity of performances between the seasons or the dominance of one team. Competitive balance in different sports has been studied for over 50 years (Rottenberg, 1956; El-Hodiri & Quirk, 1971, 1974; Fort & Quirk, 1995; Michie & Oughton, 2004; Goosens, 2005; Groot, 2008). The studies can be divided in two directions. The first one is literature dealing with the past competitive balance evolution in time or after changes in *** The article was written in the framework of the scientific branch development programme UK FTVS n. 39 Social-Sciences Aspects of Human Movement Studies, The research was conducted in the framework of a UK FTVS Praha research goal SVV – 2013 - 267 602 * Mgr. Jan Šíma - Katedra managementu sportu, Fakulta tělesné výchovy a sportu, Karlova universita v Praze, sima.jan@gmail.com ** Mgr. Jan Procházka - Katedra managementu sportu, Fakulta tělesné výchovy a sportu, Karlova universita v Praze, jan-prochazka@email.cz