Objectives This article relies on data from two samples of 47 and 49 European countries from 1950 through 2011 and 1,980 and 1,960 football domestic leagues, respectively, to explore to what extent political regimes affect the competitive balance in domestic football (soccer) leagues.

Methods We run OLS cross‐sectional regressions comparing democracies and nondemocracies and pooled cross‐sectional time‐series analyses conducted on the 13 countries that have experienced a transition to democracy after 1950.

Results We find that the percentage of league competitions won by the most successful club in the country is substantially lower in democracies than in nondemocracies. Democratic transitions trigger pressures to increase the competitive balance in football leagues.