Skip to main content

Financial challenges for Serie A

The influx of foreign club owners in Italy is a new phenomenon, particularly compared with the Premier League.  Of the 20 Serie A clubs, eight now have non-Italian owners.  Six of these were acquired by American individuals or financial groups in the last three years alone

Among the recent deals were hedge fund Elliott Management's takeover of AC Milan in 2018; billionaire Dan Friedkin's €591m acquisition of AS Roma and the 777 Partners sports investment fund purchase of Genoa last year.

This reflections an imbalance of supply and demand with more wealthy individuals seeking to buy top clubs than are available across Europe.

Infrastructure is a big problem.  As a legacy of the 1990 World Cup, many teams have to play in crumbling, government-owned stadiums.  Grounds are rarely full, partly because 'ultras' put off families from attending.   New owners seeking rebuilds of stadiums in cities such as Milan and Rome have been delayed by local political wrangling.

Covid-19 has hit many of Italy's heavily indebted clubs such as Inter Milan and Sampdoria, which had previously spent heavily on players.  These clubs are among those forced into emergency fund raisings, a fire sale of their best players, or a process of finding new owners.

Meanwhile, the value of Serie A's broadcast rights has fallen.   The €2.5bn deal for domestic rights for 2021-24 led by DAZN is smaller than the previous deal worth about €1bn a season.

A significant drop is expected in the future value of international TV contracts which in any case are well below those in the Premier League.   Qatar-based beIN Sports accounted for about half of the rights package, but has declined to renew the contract, complaining that Serie A had not done enough to tackle piracy.

A €1.6bn to sell 10 per cent of Serie A's broadcasting and commercial rights to a consortium involving private equity groups appears to have been abandoned.   There was a lack of support among rival club owners who did not want to give up control of the league's operations.

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