Skip to main content

Clubs to have bigger commercial say in Champions League?

Uefa and ECA are in discussions over a joint venture that would control all commercial matters related to European club tournaments.

Uefa currently has sole and final decision-making power over media rights auctions and sponsorship deals related to Champions League matches. The new model would give the ECA, led by Andrea Agnelli, president of Italy’s Juventus, an equal say on the terms of future commercial contracts.

A person briefed on the talks told the Financial Times that clubs are more interested in these governance proposals than the format changes for the Champions League. That’s because top sides care most about developing new ways to increase their revenues.

At Champions League matches, the competition’s main sponsors, such as Mastercard and Heineken, are the ones most prominently seen on advertising hoardings around the pitch.   Some clubs would like to end that arrangement, so their own sponsors are better featured and so increase the value of each team’s marketing deals. 

You could sell a share in the newly-created company that controls the Champions League’s commercial rights. Private equity firms in talks to acquire stakes in other competitions, such as Italy’s Serie A, may jump at the opportunity to buy into one of the world’s most watched sporting contests.

“Big financial powerhouses see that there is value to be created in our industry,” said Agnelli earlier this month. Top clubs are manoeuvring to realise that value for themselves.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wolves get raw deal from FFP

  I used to see a lifelong Wolves fan for lunch once a month.   He was approaching ninety, but still went to games.   Sadly he passed away the other week. As football finance guru Kieran Maguire has noted, Wolves continue to be constrained by financial fair play rules.  Radio 4 this morning described them as this year's 'crisis club' and the pessimists have certainly been piling in. Martin Samuel wrote sympathetically in the Sunday Times yesterday, saying that the Premier League drives talent away with regulatory red tape: 'Why could Al-Hilal sign Neves? Because Wolves needed the money. And why did Wolves need the money? Because the club had to comply with an artificial construct known as financial fair play. So Wolves are going skint, yes? No. There is no suggestion that Wolves are in financial trouble, only that they are failing to meet the rigours of FFP. Wolves’ owners appear to have the money to run the club, and invest in the club, and in fact came up with a pow
Post a 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 income is
Post a Comment
Read more

Charlton takeover approved

The long awaited takeover of Charlton Athletic by SE7 Partners from Thomas Sandgaard has been approved:  https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/se7-partners-obtain-efl-approval-for-charlton-athletic-takeover/ Charlton have had unhappy experiences with owners for over a decade, so how this works out will remain to be seen.  There is certainly potential there, but will it be realised? This interview with Charlie Methven gives detail not available elsewhere:  https://thecharltondossier.com/charlie-methven-on-the-record/
Post a Comment
Read more