The Political Economy of Football V2

The authoritative Swiss Ramble reviews the 2019/20 accounts of Barnsley FC. Barnsley are owned by a group of international investors, led by Chien Lee of NewCity Capital and Paul Conway of Pacific Media Group, who follow the “Moneyball” approach of fellow investor, Billy Beane. They bought 80% from former custodian, Patrick Cryne, in December 2017. The club clearly run a tight ship, as they usually report small losses every year (the highest in the past decade being just £3.4m). The £12.8m profit in 2016/17 is the outlier, which is the main reason that the club has made an overall £5m profit over this period. The operating loss (i.e. excluding player sales and interest) improved from £7m to £6m, which is actually one of the best performances in 2019/20 Championship to date. Almost every club in this division posts substantial operating losses, i.e. half of them are above £30m. Following promotion to the Championship, the Tykes reduced their loss from £3.4m to just £0.3m, as reve...

Analysis by the Financial Times shows that within the top 15 teams in Europe, English clubs have on average earned more revenues than their continental rivals in nine of the last 16 seasons. The Premier League's dominance is increasing.  English clubs have outpaced the revenues of their European rivals in six of the past seven seasons, bolstered by the league's global appeal and billions of pounds in broadcasting cash. The owners of Chelsea and Manchester City have spent a combined £1.6bn on players since they took the helm.  Chelsea were the only club to spend more than £100m net, while Manchester City spent £97m.

My book on  Political Football  has now been published with some Charlton content: Football has been largely exempt from the development of the regulatory state and has been left to govern itself. However, new media have raised the profile of the game and globalization has created new pressures as football clubs become pawns in the ambitions of states, consortia and wealthy individuals. Clubs offer an important sense of identity for fans, but the impersonality and distance of ownership can set up new tensions. In addition, corruption in the international governing body has been a significant problem and the sport’s symbiotic relationship with gambling continues to be a concern. Wyn Grant examines the political economy of football and its uneasy relationship with the market. There are no off-the-shelf solutions for regulation, he argues, but the complexities of the game and its economic size demand more attention from government. More information here:  https://www.agendap...

After huge losses of £88m because of the pandemic and a fall in parachute payments, Stoke City may have to sell and lease back their own stadium to avoid financial fair play penalties:  https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/stoke-city-bet365-stadium-sale-5466095

Arsenal have taken out a loan from Barclays Bank to repay the £120m loan they obtained from the Bank of England.  Fans have been asking why the Kroenkes could not have repaid the loan:  https://www.football.london/arsenal-fc/arsenal-loan-bank-of-england-20683805  

The Bundesliga has ended talks with private equity groups seeking to invest in the league's international media rights.  It is thought that two-thirds of clubs voted against the move, possibly anticipating fan criticism. The clubs felt they were in a strong position to reject the deal because they are less indebted than their Italian or Spanish counterparts and it is hoped that fans will soon be able to return. The plan was to raise cash by selling a minority stake in a new media company that would hold the rights to broadcast games outside Germany.  85 investment groups had expressed interest with nine submitting a bid.  It had been hoped to raise between €200m and €300m, but some bids went above €500m for a 25 per cent stake. For their part some potential investors thought that the deal on the table gave them too little say in running the league. Serie A has degenerated into a bitter row about a possible €1.6bn private equity deal after months of talks. According to ana...

Uefa has launched its convention on European football, an effort to involve all 'stakeholders' in long-term reforms:  https://www.uefa.com/insideuefa/mediaservices/mediareleases/news/0269-12543419cacd-b55a99fbad9e-1000--uefa-launches-convention-on-the-future-of-european-football/ Uefa has estimated that European clubs are on course to miss out on around €9bn of revenue because of the Covid-19 pandemic.  €2bn of this is in the Premier League.  This ended years of growth in football with the revenues of top tier clubs increasing by 80 per cent between 2010 and 2018. Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin said that because of the 'new financial reality' rules would be tightened to ensure clubs operated as financially responsible businesses.  Financial fair play rules would be updated to target player wages and transfer fees.

Barcelona’s financial position has worsened even further over the last year. The club’s bank debt has grown from €271 million to €480 million, of which €266 million is due in 2020-21 so must be refinanced. The amount of money owed to other clubs has risen from €261 million to €323 million, of which about half is due before the end of the current financial year. Some steps have been taken to try and deal with the biggest immediate problems. An agreement was reached late last month with one group of creditors to refinance €200 million which Bartomeu’s board had taken out in 2018 and 2019 to help pay for transfers. The €145 million credit line from the Spanish government’s emergency COVID-19 fund for businesses has also been rolled over for another year. This week it was widely reported the club had negotiated a new credit line of up to €500 million from Goldman Sachs, of which €100 million was to be used immediately to settle outstanding payments owed to players. There are no signs...

Reports from Kieran Maguire of the PriceofFootball have shown a number of small Scottish clubs turning a smallprofit despite the effects of Covid-19. The latest to report for 2019/20 is Dumbarton.   They have recorded a profit of £17,000.   Dumbarton have shifted from a £32k overdraft to £55k in the bank but this is mainly due to taking out a loan in the year of £80k. Dumbarton have historically been the beneficiary of significant grants, for infrastructure projects by the looks of it. Club is controlled by a company in Belize.

An agent claims that player wages have been halved in the wake of Covid-19.  Certainly some players at Portsmouth have seen their salaries cut:  https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/sport/football/portsmouth-fc/why-player-wages-have-halved-as-portsmouth-and-football-adjust-to-post-covid-financial-challenges-3241536

US fund Oaktree Capital is to buy a 30 per cent stake in Inter Milan as part of a €275m deal.  It is intended to shore up the Serie A club's finances after the collapse of the European Super League project.   The club also lost some of its Chinese sponsors at the end of the year. The stake would be bought from Hong Kong private equity group Lionrock Capital:  https://www.cityam.com/inter-milan-close-to-e275m-bailout-by-private-equity-firm-oaktree/

The Bundesliga is much admired in the UK for its 50+1 rule, but scores less well on other aspects of governance. German football is on the forefront of pushing for financial sustainability but when looking at financial transparency they are decades behind other big European leagues. Only four Bundesliga clubs publish their financial reports on their websites. The rest point to the DFL's annual financial overview with only a few selected key figures. UEFA's club licensing regulations require clubs to publish their last audited financial information. Neither UEFA nor the DFL are willing to answer questions on the lack of disclosure for which they have been criticised.

The Premier League has been granted an extension to respond to a case brought before the Competition Appeals Tribunal by Newcastle United over the stalled Saudi Arabian takeover of the club:  https://theathletic.com/news/newcastle-takeover-latest-premier-league/TTz6KHVraCoL

Kieran Maguire of the PriceofFootball reports: 'The 32 clubs who have published some results to date in the top two divisions have made total day to day losses of £1,653,000,000. Clubs are averaging losses of £660,000 a week in the Championship and £1,250,000 a week in the Premier League.' Manchester City have made the biggest operating loss in the Premier League to date and Stoke City in the Championship.

Preston North End have ended their sponsorship agreement with betting company 32 Red:  https://insidersport.com/2021/05/18/preston-north-end-concludes-32red-sponsorship-agreement/ Football finance guru Kieran Maguire commented that they jumped before they were pushed.  The club said that finding good sponsors is not easy, but many fans had misgivings about the relationship with a betting company. Many lower league clubs have betting sponsors and losing them would be a financial blow, but prohibition is likely to happen sooner or later. I devote a whole chapter of my book Political Football, to be published by Agenda next week, to the relationship between football and betting.

Parachute payments mean that the Championship is anything but a level playing field.  In many ways it is a de facto Premier League 2. Relegated clubs receive 55 per cent of the Premier League media rights revenue for each club in year one, 45 per cent in year two and 20 per cent in year three. Clubs who are relegated after one season receive parachute payments for only two years. That adds up to about £42m for each club in year one, £34m in year two and £15m in year three.   The remaining Championship clubs receive £4.5m each, while those in League One and League Two receive £675,000 and £475,000 respectively. QPR chief executive Lee Hoos told The Times : 'The balance is tipping away from the original purpose which was to prevent a fire sale of players and cover the cost of relegation and contractual commitments, to where we are now, where clubs have a ton of extra financial firepower and can blow everyone else out of the water.' The origins of parachute payments are rath...

Spotify chief executive Danie Elk did make an offer to buy Arsenal, but was rebuffed by the club's owners. 'They replied that they didn't need the money,' Elk said.  'I remain interested and available should that situation ever change.' Tom Payton, a member of the board of the Arsenal Supporters' Trust, called on Josh Kroenke (to whom the offer was made) to explain why it was rejected.   He commented: 'The direction that English football is going with a greater desire for fan involvement ... is not compatible with the Kroenke Sports and Entertainment model.  If they can't adapt ro this it would be best if they left English foorball.'

One of the largest shareholders in Juventus and Manchester United has criticised the clubs for backing the European Super League.   Fund managers Lindsell Train said they had now had meetings with the two clubs and expressed disappointment 'about the reputational damage Juventus and Manchester United have inflicted on themselves.' Lindsell Train owns 11.3 per cent of Juventus, the biggest shareholder after Exor, the Italian holding company that holds a majority stake.  They also own 30 per cent of Manchester United's A shares, making it one of the biggest shareholders outside the Glazer family.

American investors need not be bad news as the example of play off contestants Barnsley shows.   A consortium led by financier Chien Lee bought the club in December 2017   .Fellow investors include Billy Beane, the baseball executive who invented the data-driven Moneyball system celebrated in a film of the same name. The club must live within its means, with turnover about £10m this year. This is in a league where the average wage bill is £33m and the 24 clubs racked up combined operating losses of £382m last season, according to Deloitte.   Lee and his co-investor Paul Conway had success at Nice in France before Barnsley. They have sold that club but built a portfolio across Europe.  Through Pacific Media Group, an advertising business, they own KV Oostende in Belgium, FC Thun in Switzerland and AS Nancy in France, with each performing better than when acquired. Chien Lee told the Financial Times : “We feel we can do something meaningful using our...

Derby County are to scrap their proposed takeover deal with Spanish businessman Erik Alonso.   It has been increasingly evident that he did not have the funds he claimed:  https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/may/13/derby-owner-set-to-scrap-takeover-deal-with-spanish-businessman-eric-alonso The EFL asked him to deposit £35m in a holding account three weeks ago, but have heard nothing since. Alonso denied trying to borrow against Pride Park and other club assets. Reports are circulating about a possible revival of talks with American investors.

The Premier League has published details of its funding for EFL clubs in 2019/20:  https://www.premierleague.com/news/1939285 Coventry City and Plymouth Argyle are featured as examples of clubs that have received extensive funding.   Football finance guru Kieran Maguire commented: 'Seems very strange that the Premier League publishes a very glossy document showing the amount of money given to EFL clubs, but still refuses to disclose how much PL clubs themselves received in 2019/20.' 'In previous seasons the PL was always happy to disclose the amounts given to individual clubs almost immediately after the end of hte season but for some odd reason declines to do so for 19/20, even when politely asked.'

The Premier League has secured a three year roll over of its broadcasting agreements with Sky Sports, BT Sport, Amazon Prime and BBC TV:  https://www.premierleague.com/news/2139168?sf245845494=1 Although it comes at a price, it does represent a win in the current uncertain climate.   It is open to question whether it would have been permitted by competition authorities if Britain was still a member of the EU.  It is certainly a change from getting broadcasters to bid against one another in an auction. The deal will secure a £1.67bn income from domestic broadcasters and protects the value of domestic rights revenues at a time when many analysts had expected them to fall by perhaps as much as 15 to 20 per cent.  The domestic rights for 2019/22 fell in value by eight per cent compared with the previous three years, though that was more than offset by an increase in overseas TV rights. In order to secure government approval the Premier League agreed to make a £100m ...

Research shows that the best predictor of a club's success is the amount paid out in wages.  But, of course, it is not a perfect relationship and some clubs manage to punch above their weight. Leicester City are the biggest over achievers in the Premier League, followed by West Ham United and then Manchester City.   Aston Villa come in fourth. The positive points differential above expected points based on wages is 12 for Leicester City, 10 for West Ham and nine for Manchester City. Manchester City's wage bill was £351m for 2019/20 more than double that paid by Leicester.   Liverpool had the second highest wage bill at £326m. Sheffield United, Liverpool and then Arsenal were the biggest under achievers.   For the Blades the gap was 20 points, 10 for Liverpool and nine for Arsenal.  Crystal Palace were next in line on eight.  It should be noted that Liverpool were the highest over achievers when they won the Premier League last year. Tottenham...

Luton made an operating profit of over £3m in 2019/20 mainly due to player sale profits of £9m and income almost doubling following promotion to the Championship. Kieran Maguire of the Price of Football comments: 'Luton Town show clubs can break even and survive in the second tier.' Luton received £463k from the furlough scheme in 2019/20. Luton spent almost £2m on signings in 2019/20 and had player sales of £9m

Tottenham Hotspur are the latest club to seek to enhance fan representation by creating a Fan Advisory Panel, mode of selection to be determined.   The chair of this Advisory Panel would be a non-executive member of the board:  https://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/news/2021/may/club-update/ Based on experience at Charlton, I am somewhat sceptical about fans on the board.  (For a discussion of the Charlton experience go here:  https://addickschampionshipdiary.blogspot.com/search?q=fan+on+board )  The real decisions may be made elsewhere and in terms of feedback the fan director will be constrained by considerations of commercial confidentiality. It is evident from the club statement that there are tensions in the relationship with the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust. The Supporters' Trust says that the proposal has been brought forward without consultation and will give fans 'no real power':  https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/tottenham-hotspur-su...

Juventus have been threatened with being kicked out of Serie A over the European Super League:  https://www.joe.co.uk/sport/italian-fa-threaten-to-kick-juventus-out-of-serie-a-272458 Last Saturday Juventus issued a statement along with Barcelona and Real Madrid saying that they were not ready to abandon the plan given the crisis facing football.

The Observer is reporting that Manchester United have lost out on a £200m training kit deal with THG brand myprotein because of fan protests:  https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/manchester-united-training-kit-sponsorship-protests-glazers#:~:text=The%20UK%20newspaper%20reports%20that,training%20shirts%20from%201st%20July. Fans are engaged in a #notapennymore campaign with United sponsors.  This includes guerilla actions on social media such as clicking on Google Ads and putting items in a basket so that they then appear to have sold out.

It is being reported that the English Football League (EFL) have won an appeal relating to a Financial Fair Play charge brought against the Derby County in January last year regarding how the club amortises a player's contract. That was one of two charges put to the club, the other relating to the sale of Pride Park Stadium. The Rams were cleared of both charges and the EFL did not appeal the stadium charge, choosing only to fight the amortisation one. There has been some speculation that the Rams could still be relegated after a points deduction.  However, I think it is unlikely that a deduction would be applied retrospectively to the 2020/21 season, although a points deduction next season is possible. Wycombe Wanderers, who finished one point and one place below Wayne Rooney’s team and were relegated, are considering the option of legal action to see if the EFL’s pursuit of Derby over alleged breaches of financial fair play (FFP) has been exhausted, reports Michael Walker. ...

The Swiss Ramble has been applying his forensic financial skills to the latest set of Swansea City accounts from his Zurich base. Swansea swung from a pre-tax loss of £7m to a profit of £2.7m, despite revenue falling £18m (27%) from £68m to £50m and profit from player sales dropping £12m (41%) from £30m to £18m, as total expenses were reduced by £40m (38%). Profit after tax was £1.7m. The fact that Swans managed to make a £3m profit is a noteworthy achievement. Only one other Championship club is also profitable in 2019/20 to date (Hull City £3m), while some have reported huge losses, including Leeds United £62m, Reading £42m, Middlesbrough £36m and WBA £23m. Swansea have now been profitable six times in the last nine years. In the seven seasons in the Premier League (between 2012 and 2018), profits amounted to £36m. Even the last two seasons in the Championship have only resulted in a small net loss of £4m. The main reason for the £18m revenue reduction was broadcasting, which d...

Tottenham Hotspur have rolled over a loan from the Bank of England for another year, but Arsenal are going to pay their loan back:  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-9555419/Tottenham-delay-repaying-taxpayer-backed-loan-175m-year-Arsenal-vow-repay-debt.html?ito=amp_twitter_share-top

Singaporean billionaire Peter Lim owns Valencia CF, one of Spain’s biggest football clubs. Fans complain he uses their team for personal enrichment, such as speculating on players by trading in Europe’s multibillion-euro transfer market.  “I can do 101 things to make money, and money that I believe I can better control,” said Lim, in an interview with the Financial Times this week. “This is something quite nice. I wake up, I own a football club and I see what happens next. It’s nothing more.” For Lim, Valencia is a “trophy asset”, one that allows him to socialise with the sport’s rich and famous. He has no desire to sell, but believes the club is worth substantially more than the €100m he spent to acquire a majority stake in 2014. Instead, Lim has engaged in a fire sale of players, arguing runaway spending on footballers is no longer sustainable.  This approach to club ownership reveals a growing disconnect between some wealthy overseas investors drawn to...

Kieran Maguire of the PriceofFootball reports: 'To the surprise of absolutely nobody it looks as if Erik Alonso, the spiritual successor to Laurence Bassini, is going nowhere with the takeover at Derby County.' Derby owner Mel Morris has been told he's 'wasting time' with Erik Alonso after claims that the buyer said he'd no access to funds because his bank account was frozen. Also, attempted £20m loan (at 12%) was against Pride Park. Takeover was 2.5m+2.5m and take on £40m of debt.

Hitting the Glazers in the pocket may be an effective tactic for disgruntled Manchester United fans, particularly given that commercial income - at which the club has been so successful in generating - has stalled.    Sponsors may be vulnerable to threats of reputational damage given that they are seeking to enhance their reputation, or at least their profile, by an association with the club. However, perhaps the acid test is whether these guerilla tactics can be sustained in the long run. For the Glazers, the strategy appears to be give the storm time to subside which has certainly happened with earlier waves of protest. In recent weeks, some fans have sought to engineer cyber-attacks on club partners, leaving negative reviews to damage the reputation of brands associated with Manchester United. In March, United’s signed a £47 million-per-year deal with the global technology company TeamViewer to sponsor the club’s shirts. However, on Trust Pilot, an open online review plat...

The Premier League is exploring the fast-growing market for digital collectables which are raising hundreds of millions of dollars for artists and entertainment groups. It is considering how it might capitalise on the growing demand from fans for 'mon-fuingible tokens', lines of code use to comment someone to a digital artwork or a highlight from a sporting event. There are concerns that links to cryptocurrencies are leading to excessive valuations.   Clubs may also prefer to handle the market themselves.

The authoritative Swiss Ramble has given his verdict on the 2019/20 accounts of Birmingham City. The club's loss increased from £8.4m to £18.2m, as prior year included £17m profit on the sale of the stadium, partly offset by profit on player sales rising £7m to £12m. Revenue fell £0.5m (2%) from £23.3m to £22.8m, while expenses were flat overall. The loss of £18m is firmly in the bottom half of the Championship, though many other clubs have posted higher losses, even before the pandemic. In 2019/20 these include Leeds United £62m, Reading £42m, Middlesbrough £36m and WBA £23m. The Blues have consistently lost money, only reporting a profit once in the last eight years – and that was just £1m in 2015. Since then, the club has accumulated £85m of losses – or £102m if the stadium sale is exclude Excluding property sales, only 2 Championship clubs are profitable in 2019/20 to date (Hull and Swansea, with £3m apiece). Very few clubs manage to make money in this ultra-competitive d...

Would anyone want to buy Manchester United?   Football finance guru Kieran Maguire provides the answers and they are largely negative. If somebody wanted to buy the club as a trophy asset, then yes. It is one of the biggest sporting brands in the world and the reflective benefits of that would be huge. We are talking ultra-high-net-worth individuals, of whom there aren’t many. There is nothing to stop anybody buying the club. Realistically, I can’t see somebody who wants to maximise profits coming in to buy the club: i.e. the Glazers Mark II. Simply because the rejection of both Project Big Picture and the Super League has constrained their ability to take control and power. Most importantly from United’s point of view, and this has been underplayed, they were hoping to sell the rights directly to fans. I can’t see that happening for a while yet, at the very least. That could have been a significant income booster for the club. So you take that out of the equation. Manches...

Net player sales are becoming an increasingly important source of revenue at all levels of football.  Of course, they can be volatile and there is an element of luck as well as good judgment in player development and purchases. However, net player sales of £1.1m allowed Carlisle United to return a profit of over £750,000 in the 2019/20 season:  https://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/19276623.carlisle-united-reveal-profit-latest-accounts-making-1m-transfers/

The Swiss Ramble has been reviewing the finances of Manchester United under the ownership of the Glazers, In the last 15 years since the Glazers took control in 2005 Manchester United have generated an impressive £5.9 bn revenue, but had £5.4 bn expenses (including £2.9 bn wages and £1 bn player amortisation), leading to £467m operating profit. This was boosted by £257m profit on player sales, but £817m interest meant a £92m loss. The club had £1.0 bn net spend on players (purchases £1.4 bn, £0.4 bn sales), but spent almost as much (£704m) on interest on the loans taken out by the Glazers. Only £185m was spent on infrastructure (stadium and training ground). Cash flow before financing was therefore £57m. The club also spent £244m on loan repayments and £125m on dividends, partly financed by £299m from various share issues (net of subsidiary acquisition). As a result, the club ended up with a £14m net cash outflow. Fans will be painfully aware that their club has paid huge sums fo...

Although they have only played in the Premier League for 16 seasons, Sunderland have the fifth largest cumulative losses.   Some spectacularly bad financial decisions have been made, argues football finance guru Kieran Maguire:  https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/premier-league/spectacularly-bad-finance-expert-drops-damning-sunderland-financial-verdict/ar-BB1gjgmx

The idea of 18-team British League including Celtic and Rangers as an alternative to the failed Super League does not stack up in my view and football finance guru Kieran Maguire thinks so as well:  https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/celtic/celtic-and-rangers-in-british-premier-league-doubts-from-football-finance-expert-3222422

Roman Abramovich is one of four Russian billionaires to sue publishers HarperCollins for defamation over a book about the rise of President Putin to power. Abramovich said his 'action was not taken lightly' and that the book contained 'false and defamatory statements' about him.  Court documents show that he disputes a claim that Putin ordered his 2003 acquisition of Chelsea as well as other allegations. HarperCollins stated that they would mount a robust defence.

There are signs that the Premier League may be about to secure a lucrative new TV deal in the United States.  NBC's six year $1bn deal with the Premier League ends after next season. NBC is prioritising soccer over ice hockey, having told the NHL it is only willing to pay half the amount it had paid previously for the rights. Premier League coverage is driving subscriptions for its Peacock streaming service with the games providing popular Saturday morning viewing for families.   Moreover, there could be a rival offer from CBC which has the Champions League rights. The Premier League has renewed its $500m deal with beIN Sports for the Middle East and has a £2 billion plus six year deal with Nent for the Nordic countries.

Barcelona is labouring under a debt pile of nearly €500m and lost nearly €100m last year, hence its enthusiasm for the European Super League.   Now it has got a breathing space as holders of its €200m of debt notes have relaxed some of the terms:  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-28/fc-barcelona-wins-debt-reprieve-in-bid-to-fix-covid-hit-finances

The 50+1 model in German football has many admirers in the UK, illustrated by the number of supporters carrying 50+1 placards outside Old Trafford.  However, it is often treated rather uncritically.  I am far from convinced that it is the best way forward, as I argue in my book  Political Football  to be published by Agenda on May 27th.  The key need is for an effective independent regulator who could license club owners. A recent article in  The Athletic looks at some of the downsides of the 50+1 model.     First of all, the democratic oversight isn’t quite as strong as it seems. Most clubs make it very difficult for rival candidates to stand for election, for example. They will only put up a single candidate who is then rubber-stamped by the electorate. Taking back real control is therefore quite hard. At the same time, the involvement of elected officials worried about their standing with the members can also create tension with those pa...

After 101 years in the Football League, Southend United have been relegated to the National League.  Everything that could be mismanaged at the club has been and the result has been a depressing downward spiral:  https://www.echo-news.co.uk/sport/19274829.final-say-everything-mismanaged-southend-united/

Yesterday's dramatic scenes at Manchester United have captured plenty of media attention and reflected the frustration of the club's fans, but what impact will they have on the Glazers 3,000 miles away.   For them, their commercial interests come first.   This in turn are affected by a changing tax environment in the US. Speaking to  The Athletic , a financier who has helped several entrepreneurs buy and sell sports teams said he “can’t imagine” a circumstance that would see the Kroenkes, or any of the other American owners of the Super League clubs, sell up. Jordan Gardner, a US investor who owns shares in Denmark’s Helsingor, Championship side Swansea and Dundalk of Ireland commented: “They’ve taken the reputational hit, some of them have apologised and they’re ready to move on. Guys like (Manchester United owners) the Glazers and Kroenke were not particularly engaged with their clubs, so I don’t see the fan backlash affecting them much. It’s highly unlikely...

The sale of Oli McBurnie to Sheffield United allowed Swansea City to turn a substantial loss into what the club described as a 'very pleasing' pre-tax profit of £2.7m for the 2019/20 financial year.   (The sale of Joe Rodon last October is not included in the figures). Chief executive Julian Winter commented: 'Naturally, the club is still adapting to relegation from the Premier League, balancing the tricky conundrum of being competitive on the pitch and financially prudent off it.  But an overall profit on the back of a loss the previous year shows a great deal of progress on the road to our overall business model of being financially stable.' Swansea announced before tax losses of £7m and £3.2m in 2019 and 2020.   Turnover was down to £50m compared to £68m for the previous year, largely because of the reduction of parachute payments in the second year in the Championship.

Telecoms group BT is seeking to sell its sports broadcasting arm. That would, in effect, remove one of the Premier League’s biggest TV partners from bidding for matches in future auctions.  The move could encompass a full disposal of BT Sport, forming a joint venture or partnership with a media business. or selling a stake in it to bring in outside investment. Less competition between broadcasters means the value of the Premier League’s media contracts may fall in future. After two decades of near continuous revenue growth, all 20 top tier English clubs appear to be facing more straightened times. Arguably BT has very little to show for the more than £7bn it has spent on broadcast rights over the last decade, although the initial motivation was to stop Sky taking its broadband customers.  Now the three year rotation of football rights bidding is an uncertainty on cash flow and a constant distraction for management. Writing in the Financial Times yesterday, Bryce Elder claime...