The Political Economy of Football V2

A high-profile U.S. sports executive pardoned by Donald Trump in December, following an indictment for allegedly rigging a bidding process, has bought a minority stake in Championship club Bolton Wanderers, subject to regulatory approval. Tim Leiweke was accused by the Department of Justice last summer of orchestrating a conspiracy to put off a rival bid for the construction of a sports arena at the University of Texas so that his own company, Oak View Group (OVG), could win the $375million contract. In May, the 69-year-old invested €100 million ($114m; £85m) in newly-promoted Serie A side Venezia, with his daughter Francesca Bodie becoming the club’s president. Last month, he was blocked from buying a 16 per cent stake Benfica, as the Portuguese club’s board raised concerns about being part of a multi-club group. And now Leiweke, his daughter and former OVG executive Keegan McDonald have formed a new entity called Entrepreneur Equity Partners to buy a stake in Bolton, ...

Oxford United are not the club of dreaming spires.   That mantle belongs to non-league Oxford City once chaired by the warden of Nuffield College, Sir Norman Chester who wrote a long forgotten government report on the future of football. Oxford United were originally Headington United and crook Robert Maxwell has to plan to merger them with Reading as the Thames Valley Royals playing at Didcot. The Swiss Ramble analyses the situation of the club, having to base his analysis on th 2024/25 accounts which are the lates t available.     More on his Substack page. The last few years have been a bit of a roller coaster for Oxford United, featuring promotion to England’s second tier for the first time in 25 years, followed by relegation to League One, as well as uncertainty around the stadium, numerous changes off the pitch, issues with the EFL’s financial regulations and most recently a transfer embargo. Questions about the owners It’s clearly not a great look, w...

MK Dons new parent company MKD HoldCo Ltd, which also runs the hotel, events and car park, made a £9.1m operating loss in its first trading period. Player sale profits (Matt O’Riley sell on?) helped reduce this to just £6.2m, reports Kieran Maguire. Turnover was £20.5m.

I am rather sceptical of this list of Nigerian billionaires who might buy Leicester City.  They might find better uses for their money away from football:  https://www.afrik-foot.com/en-ng/leicester-city-nigeria-billion-epl-dangote Nigeria as a country has had quite serious issues with corruption, but there is genuine interest in football. Nevertheless, it does seem increasing likely that the Foxes will have new owners.   This is certainly the thinking in Thailand:  thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2026/07/24/king-power-in-tentative-talks-with-citigroup-about-leicester-city-sale-after-freefall-to-uks-third-tier/ Football finance guru Kieran Maguire notes: ' The interest costs at Leicester on the loans are a bit troublesome at £200k a week. The player sales this summer should offset that and cover the costs for the next few months at least. Club increasingly reliant on sales in recent years. '

This week we learnt that Liverpool FC is in talks over a potential stake sale with a consortium backed by money from the Mittal family, but likely to include some US investors. A valuation of more than $6 bn would suggest the bullish thesis — that football clubs remain a good asset appreciation play — is still intact. Meanwhile Leicester City’s Thai owners also see now as a good time to attempt a sale. The club, which won the Premier League a decade ago, dropped into English football’s third tier last season. There are other clubs, including Crystal Palace, looking for investors — or potentially new owners. Is this a sign that the market is heating up again? Does the World Cup alter the equation? To some extent, nothing much has changed. Lots of clubs have been quietly open to offers for some time, but the bids haven’t come. Liverpool itself was in the market not so long ago, and ended up selling a very small stake to a fund with close ties to the existing owners. If any invest...

What is the real story behind the acquisition of a minority stake in Liverpool by wealthy Indian investors?  The steer from Fenway Sports Group (FSG), the Boston-based syndicate which has owned Liverpool since 2010, was that Bhatia’s group was in talks for a similar deal to the one FSG struck with Dynasty Equity in 2023, when that American investment firm bought about three per cent of the club for just under £150million ($200m). However, it would appear that a 30 per cent stake is at the top end of what the group is discussing with FSG, although the consensus number among analysts has been more like eight to 10 per cent, on an overall valuation for the club of £4.5billion ($6bn). A significant amount of money, then. But there is a big difference between these stakes in terms of cost and intention. At 10 per cent, most investors are saying they like the sector, and the place of the business concerned in that sector; but they are also saying they trust the majority own...