League regulators aim for an equitable competition where each team has an equal chance of winning the championship, termed competitive balance. It is generally assumed that closed leagues with stricter labor market regulations should demonstrate better competitive balance than open leagues with promotion and relegation. The aim of this research was to examine the competitive balance between and within seasons in the closed Australian National Rugby League (NRL) and open English Super League using five measures of concentration and dominance. Overall, the closed NRL competition demonstrated superior competitive balance. The practical and theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.

联赛监管机构的目标是公平竞争，每支球队都有平等的机会赢得冠军，这被称为竞争平衡。人们普遍认为，具有更严格劳动力市场法规的封闭联赛应该比具有升级和降级的开放联赛表现出更好的竞争平衡。本研究的目的是使用五种集中度和支配力的衡量标准来检查封闭式澳大利亚国家橄榄球联盟 (NRL) 和开放式英格兰超级联赛的赛季之间和赛季内的竞争平衡。总体而言，封闭式 NRL 比赛表现出卓越的竞争平衡。讨论了研究结果的实践和理论意义。