Impact of three-point rule change on competitive balance in football: a synthetic control method approach

ABSTRACT Governing authorities in sports often make changes to rules and regulations to increase competitiveness. One such change was made by the English Football Association in 1981 when it changed the rule for awarding points in the domestic league from two points for a win to three points. This study aims to measure this rule change’s impact on the domestic league’s competitive balance using a quasi-experimental estimation design of a synthetic control method. The three-point rule change led to an increase in competitive balance in the English League. Further, we show no significant change in the number of goals scored per match.