Abstract des Autors

In this article we seek to analyse the Europeanization of Austrian football as a consequence of both (1) pressures stemming from the European integration process and (2) changes in domestic football involving other transnational (non‐EU) European bodies and phenomena. As for the former, we look at the impact of the 1995 Bosman ruling of the European Court of Justice (both in terms of the nationality regime and the transfer regime) and the European Commission's activities to induce decentralized marketing of broadcasting rights in the EU. In terms of the second aspect, we investigate the impact of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup (now Europa League) on Austrian football and to a lesser extent the role of transnational groupings/club forums and non‐governmental organization (NGO) networks. In addition, we analyse the relevance of a ‘historically determined’ Europeanization process in Austrian football. The hypothesis here is that Austria – as a former dual monarchy and multinational state – has been more internationally oriented right from the beginnings of the game.