New Fulham sponsor causes concerns

The Australian financial services regulator is looking into licensing concerns relating to Fulham’s new sponsor, Titan Capital Markets, and the firm’s website has been blocked to view from the UK and US.

Fulham’s Supporters’ Trust has called for greater due diligence around the signing of future deals in light of the Titan partnership but has seen its request to be represented on an ethics committee rejected.

In September, Fulham announced they had made an agreement with the Australian-based company Titan Capital Markets to become their Contracts for Difference (CFD) trading partner for the remainder of the 2022-23 season.

A CFD trading firm speculates on the underlying price of an asset — such as shares, commodities or foreign exchange markets.

The Fulham Supporters’ Trust met with club representatives on Thursday.  The Trust’s chair, Tom Greatrex, said: “It is not at all surprising that Fulham supporters are concerned about how our club found themselves in this position of an agreement with this company which would involve Fulham players as content creators, and corporate social responsibility via a foundation — particularly as Titan appear to have blocked access to their website from the UK within the last 24 hours.

Questions about Titan’s statements and what it appears to do in practice were first raised by journalist Martin Calladine, author of Fit and Proper People, on his blog, the Ugly Game.

“There are three or four things that in any normal situation would make me concerned about it,” he says. “But the first one, the overwhelming one, is the rates of guaranteed returns that they’re offering. You shouldn’t need to go any further.

Titan Capital Markets’ brand will be visible on the club’s perimeter LED boards at matches, which are beamed across the world during Premier League matches. The company will have access to Fulham’s players for content creation, according to Fulham’s statement.

Speaking at the WikiFX awards in Dubai in September, head trader Peterson was asked about their agreement with Fulham. He said: “It actually brought us greater brand awareness. It adds more credibility to our brand. We’re a company with a lot of financial resources and assets. We can afford to strike partnerships with prominent sports clubs.

Financial pressures are tight. In Fulham’s case, commercial and matchday revenue falls a long way behind some of their rivals. Their latest accounts detailed losses of £93million ($103.1m) during the 2020-21 season, which included work on their Riverside Stand development. From sponsorship, they recouped £11million, which is below comparable rivals like Crystal Palace (£16million) and a world away from the best teams in the division, such as Arsenal (£142million).

In order to try to compete in the transfer market, and to comply with financial fair play regulations that limit owner investment, they have to reduce their overall losses by increasing revenue. That means high-value agreements become more appealing.