Panos M. Pardalos will become one of the key figures of the Social Networks and Economics in Sport conference

Panos M. Pardalos will become one of the key figures of the Social Networks and Economics in Sport conference, which will be held in Moscow on May 27-29. By the request of SBC Magazine Professor Pardalos noted the most important moments connected with the interaction of sport issues and social networks.

What does attract you to the study of sport from the economics point of view?

Sport is a very important activity of society dating from the ancient times, and in the latest history it is very closely connected with many sectors of economics. For example, cloth industry and medicine. It also tightly interacts with entertainment industry and it is very important for mass media – television, radio, print media.

 

Do the laws of economics work in the sports as in any other area?

There are significant differences, and I recently wrote about them in one of my articles. In 1964 the economist Wolter Neal drew attention on one of the most important of them, formulating the co-called «Louis-Schmeling paradox» (Joe Louis and Max Schmeling conducted two famous boxing match in 1930.. - Ed.). In sports, to create a higher quality product, there should be a serious rivalry, and Louis could not succeed without a strong Shmeling. At the same time, the best thing in the economy that every company can dream about is a monopoly.

 

Can we talk of sports as business while most of the clubs and the events are making big losses?

But at the same time, many clubs are very profitable. This is especially true for such sports as golf and tennis. Some football clubs also demonstrate successful business management. And all of them can benefit from the network analysis, as well as from the other specific methods which are useful for the right marketing and strategic decision making.

 

In what extent may sports be studied by the means of mathematics? What can it contribute to the industry?

This study can give a lot. For example, scheduling and conducting sport activities require very accurate calculations for which you can use mathematical algorithms. In addition, the modern network theory can be an excellent tool for players and teams rankings, sports club evaluation etc.

 

What is the use of sport networks for athletes, clubs and organizations?

For example networks that represent the interactions among athletes, or athletes and club members can be used to evaluate and rank players. With today's technology large amounts of data are collected and this data can be analyzed by efficient algorithms. Such an analysis is useful to determine how to make the club’s work more effective. And the availability of all this data opens great opportunities for those who study a variety of aspects of sport life.

 

Does the network activity influence  the financial component of sport?

Absolutely! It predetermines marketing solutions as well as allows to improve the ticket sales and to attract new sponsors and advertisers. Also it helps to disseminate information more quickly.

 

Is there any dependence between how clubs work with networks, and their income?

Since we live in the information age, we can’t ignore the fact that most of our actions are reflected in the Internet. Networks facilitate a movement and dissemination of information and therefore have influence on our life.

 

Isn’t the importance of social networks for sport overestimated?

By no means! Since the competitions began to advertise and broadcast on radio and later on television, sports became available to a huge audience. And today we need to look for the development of «smart» sports networks.

 If you need the conference programe you can use this link.

SBC Magazine is a general partner of the action.