The future of women's football in Asia: a look at competitive balance in top 5 domestic football leagues from 2010 to 2019

Abstract Purpose This paper analyses competitive balance in the “big five” women's football leagues in Asia longitudinally between 2010 and 2019. Design/methodology/approach Competitive balance has been measured using recognised measures of concentration, HICB and NHICB, alongside recognised measures of dominance, i.e., identification of top teams. A time-trend analysis has been employed to identify trends of CB in the respective leagues followed by ANOVA and relevant post-hoc tests to identify difference in concentration measures. A multiple linear regression analysis has been conducted to identify the impact of external economic factors on CB. Findings Some significant differences were detected in the levels of concentration between leagues. There was also some variation in terms of some leagues being dominated by a fewer number of teams. However, these two measures of competitive balance (concentration and dominance) were not necessarily correlated with each other. The paper also tries to find the optimum number of teams to maintain CB in the women's football leagues in Asia, but an exact figure could not be found. Research limitations/implications Some significant differences were detected in the levels of concentration between leagues. There was also some variation in terms of some leagues being dominated by a fewer number of teams. However, these two measures of competitive balance (concentration and dominance) were not necessarily correlated with each other. External economic factors were found to have negative impact on CB. Originality/value The paper is an original research and aims to add to the growing body of CB research in world through analysis of competitive balance (ACB).