The FIFA World Cup took place during June and July of 2010. I'm a soccer fan so I was glued to my TV watching big games or watching Univision's live online feed of every game. I started thinking - does all this excitement for soccer get people to buy more soccer video games and does it affect the price of used soccer games?
I analyzed the prices and number of units sold for 180 soccer games. This excludes games that were released within the last year because they would increase the average price during the month they released and would be comparing apples to oranges.
Average Soccer Game Price Before and During FIFA World Cup
Like most sports games, the price of the average soccer game has been decreasing over time. There is a fairly regular price increase starting in August each year and ending in October or November. This is most likely caused by the start of the European soccer leagues every fall.
The price during the World Cup (highlighted in blue above) was nothing out of the ordinary. The average price was $6.72 in May, $6.74 in June, and $6.85 in July. So over the course of the World Cup prices increased 2%, which is not statistically significant.
Prices on used soccer games didn't change much, but the number of items sold definitely did.
Number of Soccer Games Sold Before and During FIFA World Cup
During the course of the World Cup, the average number of successful sales on ebay went from 80 on June 10th to 130 on July 11th (the date of the Final game). A 63% increase.
The number of games sold per day quickly dropped after the World Cup was finished so interest in soccer games didn't outlast the tournament.
Why Did Prices Stay the Same While Units Sold Spiked?
Obviously the demand for soccer video games increased a lot during the Soccer World Cup, but prices stayed almost exactly the same. So supply must have increased along with the demand. Lots of people probably decided to sell their old soccer games now while they could take advantage of the World Cup.
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