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What private equity sees in football

Private equity has been moving into football.  To some extent this is a matter of the pandemic creating distressed assets available at below value prices.    However, it is not just a matter of potential bargain deals and replacing cash with cheap debt on the balance-sheets of clubs.

According to Dr. Dan Plumley and Dr. Rob Wilson from Sheffield Hallam University the private equity industry have spotted quite a few of the key elements in the football industry essential to how and where they invest.

”Clubs are essentially recession proof assets. Sport is an inelastic product, not a luxury but a necessity for many...This provides private equity and its supporting cast with a longer game to play in the sporting investment stakes,” they told offthepitch.com

Private Equity might take a different approach going into the industry, where “…the appeal of leagues over clubs is a longer-term approach to growth as they are less volatile performance wise.”

One thing could cool down private equity’s future interest in the industry: regulatory bodies that will lay down commercial frameworks that will govern the future of their sports.

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