Measuring the efficiency of Russian Football Premier League clubs

Authors propose a methodology for quantitative analyses of football clubs' efficiency, including following steps: (1) theoretical analyses of production processes in football; (2) its empirical evidence based on structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) approach; (3) calculating the efficiency of transformation multiple inputs into multiple outputs using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The article considers 4 seasons of Russian Football Premier League (2012/2013 – 2015/2016). Applied approach can help football clubs to identify the weaknesses and focus on efficiency-enhancing strategies.