Estimating Demand for Aggressive Play: The Case of English Premier League Football (Report‪)‬

Introduction The sport of association football (or "soccer" as it is know in the US) is played in nearly every part of the world. FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association), the sport's world governing body, has over 200 member countries, a quantity that surpasses even the number of United Nations members. FIFA establishes the rules of the game for all competitions that it sanctions, including international matches and professional club leagues in member nations. One of the primary laws of the game (Law 12) involves fouls and misconduct and the penalties for such offenses (FIFA, 2008). The penalties range in severity according to the seriousness of the offense, and the referee is responsible for meting out appropriate punishment with input from two assistant referees and a fourth official. The referee may award a free kick (direct or indirect) against the offending team, he may choose to caution the offending player and award a yellow card, or he may take the extreme step of sending off the offending player with a red card if the misconduct is judged to be egregious enough.