Competitive balance using Accumulated Points Difference method in male and female roller hockey leagues

The purpose of this study was to quantify the competitive balance in both men’s and women’s professional division roller hockey competitions (Spanish and Portugal leagues) comparing the results obtained according to the sex of participants. The sample was composed of 5,942 roller hockey games (2,044 in Spanish male league, 1,580 in Spanish female league, 1,814 in Portuguese male league and 504 in Portuguese female league) between the 2009-2010 and 2017-18 seasons. To calculate the competitive balance, it was used the Accumulated Points Difference index andthe one way ANOVA followed by Tukey Post Hoc multiple comparison test. The results showed that male leagues are more balanced than female (71.41±11.29 vs. 79.65±5.75 for Spanish leagues and 75.56±7.54 vs. 80.16±15.01 for Portuguese leagues). The results in relation to the sex of participants are consistent with previous studies in other sports like football. The analysis of the competitive balance could be useful for the governing body of Roller Hockey Federations to have quantitative data of the equality that exists in each league and to asses if it is necessary to introduce changes in the competition to make it more equalized in order to increase the audience.