Professional Asian Football Leagues and the Global Market Stefan SZYMANSKI † University of Michigan This paper considers the development potential for professional football (soccer) leagues in Asia. This is set in the context of a global market where playing talent is easily bought and sold, and fans are attracted by the highest quality of play which they mostly consume via screens. The paper highlights the relative underdevelopment of Asian leagues given the size and growing economic power of the Asian markets, and suggests some ways in which this might change in the future. Key words: football, professional league, soccer, sport JEL codes: Z21, Z28 1. Introduction Fifty years ago, if you were a supporter of Liverpool Football Club living in Asia, and you wanted to know how they had fared in the FA Cup played at Wembley in England, your best bet would have been to look in your local newspaper the following day (they beat Leeds 2-1 in 1965). Twenty-five years ago or so, in much of Asia you would still have needed to consult the newspaper, but in some countries at least you probably could have watched it live on TV, possibly in a local bar (they beat Sunderland 2-0 in 1992). In 2015, Liverpool lost the semi-final to Aston Villa, a game that you could easily have watched live on your mobile phone throughout most of Asia. Of course, you might not be that bothered, since the FA Cup is not the prestigious tournament it was even 25 years ago, and Liverpool fans care much more about qualifying for the Champions League, which did not exist a quarter of century ago. But the point is, 50 years ago there were many fans of English football to be found in Asia even though they had almost no opportunity to watch the games played. Today in Asia, there are still many fans of English football, and added to that there are fans of Spain’s La Liga, Germany’s Bundesliga and Italy’s Serie A, not to mention the pan-European Champions League. Fifty years ago, most Asian nations did not have a professional football league of their own. Now most do, but still the focus of fan interest in Asia is directed primarily at Euro- pean clubs. This, I think, raises a question of great interest to economists and marketers alike. Is professional football a kind of business in which first mover advantages persist? Or, given the intense demand for professional football in Asia, will local Asian leagues evolve which can challenge the dominance of the European leagues? What factors hold back the development of football leagues in Asia, and what lessons are to be learned from the experience of other sports? † Correspondence: Stefan Szymanski, University of Michigan, 3118 Observatory Lodge, 1402 Wash- ington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2013, USA. Email: stefansz@umich.edu doi: 10.1111/aepr.12112 Asian Economic Policy Review (2016) 11, 16–38 © 2016 Japan Center for Economic Research 16