The Political Economy of Football V2

While our attention has been focused on the World Cup, the Premier League transfer market has been heating up with plenty of cash to splash. Tottenham Hotspur are tired of fighting relegation. The Lewis family has injected cash. Spurs have spent €267mn on players so far this window, higher than any other club, according to data tracker Transfermarkt. Manchester City haven’t won the league for two seasons straight. That won’t do for Khaldoon Al Mubarak, who chairs the club and leads UAE sovereign investor Mubadala. City has a new manager, Enzo Maresca, who joined after a messy exit from Chelsea. The club has spent €175.20 mn, including the signing of England midfielder Elliott Anderson from Nottingham Forest for £116mn (€136mn). Spurs have recouped almost €70mn from selling players, City around €23mn, but neither has sold quite like Newcastle and Chelsea, who have moved on €188mn and €132mn of players respectively. Having missed out on the Champions League, private equity-ow...

The bromance between Fifa boss Infantino and President Trump has attracted lots of attention, not least because Trump was able to get a US red card rescinded, the only one in the tournament.   But more fundamental Americanisation of the beautiful game is taking place with Fifa's compliance. In search of every last US dollar, Fifa is leaving no stone unturned. Ahead of Sunday’s final, football’s governing body is somehow still finding new ways to reach into fans’ wallets. Those who simply cannot get enough of the World Cup final have been offered the chance to attend the pre-match press conference in New York. The privilege that has until been reserved for, well, members of the press, is now open to attendees of Fanatics Fest — a four-day jamboree organised by Michael Rubin’s sports merchandise and memorabilia company. A one-day pass will set you back $80. But it doesn’t stop there. Diehards can buy one of the 1,996 “championship rings” available after the game (price still...

Increasingly the most important people in any football club are not the accountants, but the lawyers.  A career as a sports lawyer offers good prospects and is more interesting than many branches of the legal profession. Leeds United have opened legal proceedings and served a statement of claim against Leicester City after being denied automatic promotion in 2023-24, when the latter broke financial rules.    This follows Burnley’s recent successful action against Everton. A statement of claim sets out why the claimant is taking action against a respondent. In this case, Leeds have included specific losses, but also requested an assessment of damages as a result of Leicester’s PSR breach. As it stands, the hearing is not set to take place until next summer.   It is always possible that it will be settled out of court. Last month, it was revealed Everton had been ordered to pay Burnley £35m in compensation and interest. In 2021-22, the Lancashire club were rel...

The chairman of Oxford United has apologised for the uncertainty and concern that has arisen after the club was given a transfer ban.   In particular, he reassured fans that it would not affect plans for a new stadium north of the city:  https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/sport/26283814.oxford-united-head-apologises-amid-uncertainty-concern/ The club evidently found competing in the Championship challenging and now they have paid a financial penalty in League One.

To try to capitalise on the surge in interest from the World Cup, Major League Soccer has launched its largest-ever marketing campaign called “Thanks World, We’ll Take It From Here”, featuring MLS stars past and present, including Lionel Messi and David Beckham. It aims to convert America’s growing legion of football fans into loyal followers of the country’s top professional league as its season resumes on July 16.  MLS, which launched in 1996 as a condition of the US’s bid to host the 1994 World Cup, faces a pivotal moment. The arrival of Messi at Inter Miami in 2023 drew unprecedented attention to the league. Even before the World Cup, viewership and match attendance increased in recent seasons.  As part of efforts to build on this momentum, the league is shifting to a summer-to-spring calendar in 2027 to align with the international football schedule. Currently its season runs from late February to early December. This change, alongside roster rule tweaks, aims to inte...

Rumours abound that Newcastle United’s captain, Bruno Guimarães, will be the next big name player to leave St James’ Park. The Swiss Ramble has produced an in depth and highly informative analysis of the related financial position.    Unavoidably it requires making a series of assumptions about the club ‘s future finances.   The full analysis is available on his Substack page. It is evident that clubs like Newcastle face big challenges from financial rules despite their sincere efforts to comply with them.    Many of us believe that the rules are designed to protect existing elite clubs from insurgents.   [WG] The club’s supporters will be somewhat perplexed about losing another one of their stars, given that Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali have already been sold this summer, especially after they would have thought that any financial concerns should have been addressed by the record sale of Alexander Isak to Liverpool last September. It was not me...