Geo-­economics of professional sports: migration aspect

At the present stage of development of the professional sports industry, such a phenomenon as sports migration is becoming more relevant and significant. The purpose of the research is to study the state and trends of migration processes in the global sports market. The current migration trends in the professional sports industry are considered on the example of world football, which is in the greatest demand among the consumer audience of a sports product, which allowed us to get the most complete picture of the development of migration processes in the industry market. The conducted research is based on the analysis of statistical data on sports migration of the International Center for Sports Research (CIES), information from the German Transfermarkt website on transfer operations of professional athletes and the report of the International Football Federation on the development of the global transfer market. A comprehensive analysis of the migration flows of professional athletes was carried out in the context of six confederations of the International Football Federation, data on the main leagues of associations were taken for more objective analysis. Based on the author’s infographics, the features of the processes of world sports migration by countries in the context of continents (confederations) are illustrated, the key directions of external and internal emigration are noted, its structure and average value per association are determined, the level of presence of legionnaires in associations around the world is revealed. The directions of migration flows of professional athletes are studied through territorial analysis, and the impact of the global transfer market on the effectiveness of economic regulation of these processes is assessed. In conclusion, it is emphasized that the effectiveness of trends in the development of sports migration depends on a balanced approach to human resource management on the part of such key industry functionaries as confederations, associations, leagues and clubs.