This paper challenges the traditional seeding regime of round-robin tournaments that aims to create balanced groups. In particular, the design of the most prestigious European men’s handball club competition is compared to two alternative formats with equally strong groups via simulations. We find that it is possible to increase the quality of all matches played together with raising the uncertainty of outcome, essentially without sacrificing fairness. Our results have useful implications for the governing bodies of major sports.

中文翻译：

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最佳比赛设计：男子手球冠军联赛的教训

本文挑战了传统的循环锦标赛种子制度，旨在建立平衡的团体。尤其是，通过模拟，将欧洲最负盛名的男子手球俱乐部比赛的设计与具有同样强大实力的两种替代形式进行比较。我们发现，有可能在不牺牲公平性的前提下提高所有比赛的质量，同时提高结果的不确定性。我们的结果对主要体育运动的管理机构具有有益的启示。