Skip to main content

Record valuation for AS Roma

A sale of AS Roma is imminent, reports the Financial Times from New York. According to the Pink 'Un, the club is set to be acquired for €750m including debt which would be a record for a Serie A team. Growing television revenues provide an incentive to buy clubs.

The buyers are a consortium led by US billionaire Daniel Friedkin. His family own the Gulf States Toyota Distributors car dealership and other business interests. He is expected to go ahead with a plan to build a new stadium for AS Roma.

A group of US investors bought a controlling stake in the club in 2011, making them the first foreign owners of an Italian club. The existing American investors have become disillusioned about the failure of the local authorities in Rome to upgrade or regrade the Stadio Olimpico shared with local rivals Lazio. They have a poor reputation for failed governance

This points to a wider failure, the dysfunctional nature of the Italian political system. One might ask how some economic achievements have been possible in Italy. Some of these have been achieved in spite of the absence of effective governance.

Any one who has visited Italy over a long period of time cannot fail to be disappointed by the decay of public infrastructure and spaces, including graffiti. Refuse collection and disposal is an area in which failure often occurs.

It also has to be admitted that 'over tourism' has become a serious problem in locations like Roma, Firenze and, above all, Venice. Tourists do not, of course, generally come for the football, but it sets a context. Inward investment might therefore be welcomed but is always going to be controversial, especially with fans.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Threat of financial calamity removed from Baggies

West Bromwich Albion had effectively been in decline ever since the club was sold to a Chinese consortium in August 2016, paying a figure north of £200m to buy former owner Jeremy Peace’s stake. Controlling shareholder Guochuan Lai’s ownership was fairly disastrous for the club, but his unloved tenure finally came to an end after Bilkul Football WBA, a company ultimately owned by Florida-based entrepreneur Shilen Patel and his father Dr Kiran Patel, acquired an 87.8% shareholding in West Bromwich Albion Group Limited, the parent company of West Bromwich Albion Football Club. This change in ownership was urgently required, due to the numerous financial problems facing West Brom, including growing high-interest debt and serious cash flow concerns, following years of no investment from the former owner. Indeed, West Brom’s auditors had already rung the alarm bell in the 2021/22 accounts when they cast doubt on the club’s ability to continue as a going concern without making player s...
1 comment
Read more

Gold standard ground boosts Tottenham's income

The gold standard in European football grounds is the Tottenham Hotspur stadium in north London, a £1bn construction project completed in 2019. Its impact on the club’s finances has become increasingly clear as the effects of the pandemic have faded. Previously, the average fan would spend less than £2 inside the ground on a typical match day, but now that figure is about £16, thanks to new facilities including the longest bar in Europe and an on-site microbrewery. Capacity has gone up from 36,000 at the club’s previous home of White Hart Lane to 62,000.  The new stadium — built on land adjacent to White Hart Lane — has opened the door to a broad range of other events that have helped to push commercial income up from €117mn in 2018 to €215mn in 2022. Last year, Tottenham hosted US singer Beyoncé for five nights on her global Renaissance tour, two NFL matches, as well as rugby games and heavyweight boxing bouts.  Money brought in from football has gone up too. Match day ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Spurs to sell minority stake

Tottenham Hotspur is in talks to sell a minority stake in a deal that could value it at up to £3.75 billion and pave the way for Joe Lewis and his family to sever ties with the Premier League football club. Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is seeking an investment that values the club at between £3.5 billion and £3.75 billion, including debt. While the terms of any deal have not been finalised, City sources expect Spurs to sell about 10 per cent. The club is being advised by bankers from Rothschild on the sale. Tottenham wants to raise fresh capital for new player signings and to help fund the development of an academy for its women’s team, as well as a 30-storey hotel next to its north London stadium. The financier Amanda Staveley, who brokered the deal for Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to take over Newcastle United, is understood to be among the parties to have expressed an interest in Tottenham. Staveley’s fund, PCP Capital Partners, has raised about £500 million to ...
Post a Comment
Read more