ABSTRACT
Football is by far the most popular sport in Chile. According to Adimark (2008) 62.3 per cent of the country’s population mention it as their first sport, followed by basketball with only 9.1 per cent of the preferences. This passion has not been reflected in the results: the men’s national football team has failed to win any official title, until the recent victory in Copa America 2015, and at the club level the achievements can be counted with the fingers of one hand. Moreover, in recent decades Chile has shown economic stability and sustained growth, establishing an optimal scenario for the development of the industry. However, despite the popularity of football and the country’s economic development, the industry has not been able to consolidate a sustainable growth. Continuous changes in the administrations of both the professional football league and the men’s national team have not allowed the development of a long-term plan. For this reason, coupled with the debts owed by the clubs to the national treasury, the government decided to intervene by forcing clubs to become public-listed companies (PLC) or investment funds in sports.
