Income of Athletes and the Multiplicative Effect: SAM-CGE Analysis

Abstract

The global professional sports market has evolved from a leisure economy segment into a highly profitable industry. In certain countries, its share of the GDP exceeds two percent. However, current national accounting systems only partially record sports activity, which impairs the precision of macroeconomic assessments and increases the risk of inefficiently subsidizing infrastructure projects. This article aims to develop an integrated methodological framework that can quantitatively measure the economic impact of professional athletes by combining an analysis of their income structure with a multi-level evaluation of multiplier effects. This methodology relies on the combined use of a social accounting matrix (SAM) to calculate direct, indirect, and induced effects, computable general equilibrium (CGE) models to simulate long-term resource and price shocks, and the synthetic control method to verify results after the event. A human capital module and a tax incidence analysis complement the core design. The empirical dataset is compiled from the OECD, Eurostat, Transfermarkt, Forbes, and national tax registers.

The study systematizes the ten main ways athletes generate income and ranks their contribution to gross value added quantitatively. The findings reveal that sponsorship agreements and media rights generate the highest multipliers, outperforming the creative and tourism sectors. However, the effectiveness of transfer fees and prize money depends on the recipient country’s tax regime. The proposed model allows for the evaluation of the fiscal impact of sports investments and the establishment of transparent reporting requirements for leagues and clubs.

This article's scientific contribution lies in integrating three complementary methods—SAM, CGE, and synthetic control—into a single analytical construct that mitigates their individual limitations and ensures cross-country comparability. The results are practically relevant in that they have the potential to harmonize statistical standards, optimize fiscal mechanisms that support sports, and inform evidence-based economic policy for developing the sports industry.