Purchasing passion: A case study on the valuation of football players in Swedish clubs.

Sammanfattning: Every year football clubs across the world spend billions of dollars combined on acquiring new players. To purchase a player from another club, a transfer fee must be paid. Putting a monetary value on a human requires significant consideration. This case study investigates the valuation process in Swedish football clubs. Similar research on the valuation process has been done in art, and a theoretical framework introduced in this setting was used when the research question was investigated. The case study was conducted using semi-structured interviews with people involved in the transfer process at Swedish clubs. The study found that the valuation process follows four steps, setting up the valuation, informing the valuation, forming a value opinion, and offering a value opinion. The first step starts with either a need or an opportunity, and both can be influenced by sporting, business, or fans logic. In the second step, information is gathered and analysed with benchmarking and gut feeling. Thirdly, considerations are made for the factors surrounding the player. The final step focuses on how clubs use information in negotiating with other clubs. Our analysis shows that the procedures for valuing a player are more based on feeling and experience than data analytical models. Another key finding was the existence of a third logic, fans logic, where the will of the fans is an important consideration for clubs.