Impact of Player Acquisitions on European Soccer Stocks: An Event Study

This study analyzes the effect of soccer players on the stock prices of publicly traded European top-flight soccer teams. Using an event study methodology, it analyzes the abnormal returns of the soccer team’s stock price during the event window which comprises two significant dates: the day journalists report the transfer to the broad public and the day the club officially announces the transfer. Five transfers from the 2024 summer transfer window were analyzed, using both single-factor and two-factor models to measure the previously mentioned abnormal returns while controlling for broad market and economic trends The study’s findings indicate that the semi-strong form of the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) holds, as no abnormal returns were statistically significant at the 5% level. The results are not robust enough to reject the Efficient Market Hypothesis or signaling theory. Ultimately, the results from this analysis advise against incorporating player transfer events into investment strategies.