Editor’s note: References to football are UK-based and would use rugby in the U.S.

In a sporting context, discussions of excitement become invariably qualitative and subjective. It is felt that a number, especially one calculated at the end of a game, such as the margin of victory, may fall woefully short in quantifying excitement. An apparently one-sided soccer game that ends with a score of 5–2 might generate more excitement—depending on when and how the goals were scored—than one with a 3–3 score line, which, on paper, may seem more evenly fought.

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