The Political Economy of Football V2

Real Madrid is planning to seek more than €4bn in damages from Uefa for alleged losses it suffered after European football’s governing body blocked proposals for a controversial Super League. The Spanish football club believes it has lost out on revenues of between €4.5bn and €4.7bn since Uefa vetoed the European Super League plan in 2021, according to documents produced by experts hired by Real Madrid. The figures, seen by the Financial Times, take into account lost match day, broadcast and commercial revenues at Real Madrid, one of the driving forces behind the Super League proposals. One person close to the club said it was planning to shortly file a claim for damages of more than €4bn in the courts.   Real Madrid’s assessment comes after Uefa — alongside La Liga and RFEF, the Spanish football league and national governing body respectively — lost an appeal at the provincial court of Madrid on Wednesday. It upheld a ruling by Madrid’s commercial court that Uefa abused its do...

  The authoritative Swiss Ramble looks at the gap between the ‘Big Six’ and other top flight clubs. They invariably have the financial muscle to ensure that results such as Unitrd and Spurs last season are the exception, rather than the rule, while other less fortunate clubs cannot afford a bad season or two, as shown by Leicester City’s decline since surprisingly winning the league. If we define success as qualifying for Europe, an achievement that has the added benefit of enhancing revenue streams, there is no debate around the success of the Big Six. In the last 15 years, there have been only two occasions when less than five members of the Big Six failed to qualify for European competitions. Indeed, in more than half of those seasons, all six clubs successfully negotiated this hurdle. Moreover, they almost always qualified for the lucrative Champions League. Out of the 63 slots available since 2010/11, all but four of them have gone to the Big Six, the only exceptions b...

2023/4 was Inter’s first full season under the control of Oaktree Capital Management, who became the new majority shareholder in May 2024, after the previous owners, the Chinese conglomerate Suning Group, had failed to repay a loan from Oaktree by the agreed deadline.    The Swiss Ramble reviews their progress. Even if they narrowly missed out in terms of silverware, Inter hit the bullseye off the pitch, as they swung from a €27m pre-tax loss to a €50m profit, a hefty year-on-year improvement of €77m.   This was driven by revenue, which shot up €144m (35%) from €407m to a huge new club record €551m, though profit from player sales fell from €65m to €14m. Growth in operating expenses was restricted to 4% (€18m), as these rose from €462m to €480m. All three main revenue streams set new club records, led by broadcasting, which surged €88m (50%) from €176m to €264m. Match day rose €29m (39%) from €75m to €104m, while commercial increased €28m (19%) from €147m to €1...

Following the club going into administration, the Sheffield Wednesday Supporters’ Trust described the situation as “bittersweet”, adding that it was “overjoyed to have Dejphon Chansiri out of our club for good”. It also said that, should a “suitable sale” not be forthcoming, the trust has been working on a fan-led takeover proposal to avoid the club being liquidated.  A Trust spokesman outlined this proposal on Radio 4 this morning, but it is difficult to see how fans could underwrite the club's losses. The greater concerns of Wednesday fans will now be over the club’s long-term future.   The club’s accounts indicate that in the region of £115m is owed to Chansiri in the form of loans but a sale process led by his legal team since the end of last season has failed to bring new ownership. The administration process and search for Chansiri’s replacement will be overseen by Manchester-based firm Begbies Traynor, which was previously appointed as administrators of Wigan Athlet...

Those fans calling for a change at the top at Wet Ham should take account the the ownership structure. The future could hinge on the late David Gold’s 25 per cent stake, controlled by his descendants. Discussions have included a potential investment into the club, which is set to announce big losses for last season. But the problem remains that any new investor would not have control of the club without buying shares from David Sullivan, the co-owner who owns 39 per cent, or the Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, who bought a 27 per cent share for about £150million in 2021. West Ham expected Kretinsky to exercise his option of a full takeover in the summer of 2022.  He never did and bought Royal Mail. Some of the potential investors have a tech background, which could appeal to supporters who have called for better scouting and the use of the type of analytics employed by other clubs.

Italian side Juventus are the subject of an investigation from UEFA into possible financial breaches. The Turin-based club received notification from European football’s governing body last month that proceedings had been opened into the three-year period from the 2022-23 season through to the 2024-25 campaign, with an outcome expected in spring 2026. n July 2023, Juventus were banned for a season from European competitions by UEFA for breaches of club licensing and financial fair play (FFP). The club were also fined €20m (£17.1m, $22m), of which €10m was conditional and would only be enforced if there were irregularities in Juve’s annual financial statements for 2023, 2024 or 2025.

HM Revenue and Customs has filed a winding-up petition against Sheffield Wednesday for an unpaid tax bill estimated at £750,000 to £1 million, related to PAYE and VAT obligations. The Championship club, owned by Dejphon Chansiri since 2015, could enter administration, incurring a 12-point deduction from the English Football League and threatening their 20th-place standing, two points above relegation.  This development follows repeated transfer embargoes, wage delays, and unsuccessful sale attempts amid ongoing financial difficulties.

Real Madrid are stepping up plans towards a radical change in their ownership structure — one that would allow external investors to purchase stakes in the club for the very first time. Madrid have been owned by their  socios  (club members) since being founded in 1902 and any adjustments to that model would require them to approve it in a vote. Only three other clubs have the same structure in Spanish football — Athletic Club, Osasuna and Barcelona. Madrid are the only club in world football to have recorded revenues over €1billion (£870million; $1.2bn), a total reached over the 2023-24 season according to a Deloitte report (€1.045.5bn was the exact figure). Despite this, Madrid’s president, Florentino Perez, has spoken about how being owned by members holds them back in certain ways, especially when competing in the transfer market with rival clubs backed by billionaires or sovereign wealth funds. Madrid’s president is now set to present new details and further plans...

It was October 15, 2010, when Fenway Sports Group, then known as New England Sports Ventures, completed its £300million takeover of Liverpool.  The debt-ridden Premier League giants had been pulled back from the brink of administration after the destructive reign of Tom Hicks and George Gillett. “I am proud and humbled,” principal owner John W Henry told reporters. “I can’t tell you how happy I am. We’re here to win.” It took FSG time to get the right personnel and structure in place after the mess inherited from Hicks and Gillett. This summer’s record-breaking spending spree, following last season’s title triumph, underlined how increasing revenues have allowed Liverpool to buy established, elite talent rather than untapped potential. Liverpool’s total outlay was around £449m, including add-ons. No club in the Premier League era has ever spent more in one window, but they also generated up to £260m from sales.   “It’s been years in the making,” CEO B...

“Everything about the Premier League becomes more difficult every year,” Brighton & Hove Albion owner and chairman Tony Bloom tells  The Athletic , speaking at the club’s training ground. There can be no denying Brighton’s incredible progress since Bloom first took over the club in 2009. They had just finished 16th in League One — English football’s third tier — when Bloom arrived in the boardroom, but in the eight years that followed, they won two promotions and a place in the Premier League, and moved into both a state-of-the-art training facility and their now-famous Amex Stadium. The hallmark of Brighton’s spell in the Premier League has been innovative thinking — be that in the transfer market or when appointing new managers. This vision has helped keep the club punching above their weight and regularly overcoming opponents with far bigger budgets, and has also secured Bloom’s status as one of the most respected minds in the game. “It’s getting to that point where th...

Burton Albion lost a staggering sum of over £8m last season and are now looking for new investors.   The club states: 'This was the result of decisions that, in hindsight, did not align with the targets of building a long-term and sustainable future.' The Nordic Football Group took over the Brewers last year and has decided to meet the loss with a loan.  A 30-40 per cent reduction in losses is anticipated for this season which would still leave them at nearly £5m.   The club 's ownership structure included 18 people at the time of the takeover, but this has now reduced to 10.   Sports investment agency Proto Capial LLP has been appointed to fine new investors.

The authoritative Swiss Ramble looks at how Arsenal have been able to splash the cash this summer, Much more information and detail on his Substack page. The Gunners splashed out a hefty £282m net, which was just ahead of Liverpool’s £268m. Both clubs spent a lot more than every other club, with the next highest being around £100m lower, namely Manchester United £183m and Tottenham Hotspur £178m.   To further underline the size of the outlay, this was not only the highest net spend in England, but also worldwide this summer. Unlike the other big spenders, Arsenal only recouped £9m from player sales, the largest fees being for the deals taking Nuno Tavares to Lazio for £4m, Marquinhos to Cruzeiro for £3m and Albert Sambi Lokonga to Hamburg for £300k. In fact, only newly promoted Leeds United made less from player sales than Arsenal’s £9m this summer.   In stark contrast, Chelsea generated a massive £288m from player sales. One reason that Arsenal were able to spend so m...

Burnley’s owners have completed the purchase of a majority stake in Espanyol. The Athletic  reported in June that ALK Capital, the investment vehicle run by Burnley’s owner Alan Pace, were in talks over buying a stake in the Spanish top flight club. ALK had been exploring investment opportunities at clubs in Europe for some time. Espanyol had been owned by Chinese company Rastar Group, who announced in July a €130million deal had been agreed with Velocity Sports Partners (VSP) — the investment arm of ALK — to acquire the 99.66 per cent stake in the La Liga club.   Rastar Group reported the deal consisted of €65m cash and €65m worth of shares in VSP. “This is not about ownership; it’s about stewardship,” Pace said. “Burnley will remain Burnley. Espanyol will remain Espanyol. Each club will retain its own leadership, identity, independence and decision-making, run by its own people, for its own supporters.” Espanyol had been on the market since their relegation from...

Nottingham Forest are using the architects who oversaw Liverpool’s recent expansion of Anfield to help with new-look plans to turn the City Ground into a stadium with a capacity of up to 45,000. Three months after obtaining planning permission to start their home ground’s long-awaited redevelopment, Forest have now decided to shelve those designs in favour of a more ambitious overhaul of the stadium that has been their home, beside the River Trent, since 1898. The Premier League club had previously intended to demolish the Peter Taylor Stand — the oldest, and smallest, of the City Ground’s four — and replace it with an entirely new structure, increasing capacity from just over 30,000 to around 35,000. Work was due to begin next year. Among sweeping changes, however, the club have been exploring alternative proposals to remove the roof of the Peter Taylor, then build over the existing structure to turn it into one of the biggest stands in English football, tripling its number ...

Cristiano Ronaldo has become football’s first billionaire, according to the financial news website Bloomberg.   The Bloomberg Billionaires Index places Ronaldo’s net worth at £1.04 billion, boosted by his new bumper deal with the Saudi team Al-Nassr. In June the former Manchester United player signed a two-year extension to his tax-free contract with the Riyadh club, thought to be worth about £300 million, or about half a million pounds a day.   The contract, which will keep him at the club beyond his 42nd birthday, ensured that he remained the best-paid footballer in the world. The index considers total career earnings, investments and endorsements, and includes Ronaldo’s contracts with companies such as Nike, Armani, Samsung, Louis Vuitton and PokerStars. It says that Ronaldo earned more than £400 million in salary alone between 2022 and 2023. Miguel Marques, a Portuguese private banker, helps to manage Ronaldo’s wealth through Lisbon-base...

While at the time of its inauguration, the Emirates was considered at the vanguard of the stadium experience, it has fallen behind in the intervening years as technology has transformed our daily lives. General modernisation would be welcomed. For example, phone connectivity is awful and the improvement that has been discussed for a while is yet to materialise. The PA system is imperfect in parts of the stadium. More recent rebuilds utilise innovative systems to get fans through food and drink concessions quicker. All these factors go hand in hand with any capacity increase. The building itself is only one part of the infrastructure which needs attention, though. Working with the local council, emergency services and Transport for London, plans for an extra 10,000 (possibly more) people to safely arrive and leave the area are a considerable obstacle. As things stand, two of the stations which are closest to the Emirates and in normal use outside of matchdays are forced out of actio...

Tottenham Hotspur’s owners have pledged to keep pumping money into the club to “deliver success” after announcing a £100million cash injection on Thursday. In a statement, the club said the £100m capital, which was provided by the Lewis family through ENIC, would “further strengthen the club’s financial position and equip the club’s leadership team with additional resources”. The funding is the biggest known cash injection from ENIC since its takeover of Spurs in 2001, although it released £150m worth of capital in May 2022 — with the club only taking up £97.5m. A source close to the Lewis family insisted future funding would be provided following talks with the club’s leadership, telling  The Athletic : “This is initial additional funding. As the club’s management decides what’s needed to deliver success, more money will be available. The Lewis family is committed to backing the club to be successful.” Since Levy’s surprise exit, the family has rejected three approaches fr...

Leyton Orient majority owner David Gandler wants the League One club to build one of the world’s “most technologically advanced” stadiums in time for their 150th anniversary in 2031. This multi-purpose home, which will cost “hundreds of millions of pounds”, will sit in an environmentally-friendly campus that should create more than 1,500 new jobs and enable Orient’s current Brisbane Road stadium to be “unlocked” for new housing. Gandler, who took control in April, was speaking to  The Athletic  on the day Orient revealed they have signed a memorandum of understanding with the London Borough of Waltham Forest to work together on the new stadium project. “We want to stay in Waltham Forest, ideally in Leyton,” said Gandler. “That’s the premise of our relationship. Gandler did not want to say too much on stadium size as he wants to talk to the club’s fans about it first, but he suggested he is thinking about a ground at least twice Brisbane Road’s capacity of 9,000, where ...

Arsenal are planning a major expansion of the Emirates that could force them to move their home matches temporarily to Wembley Stadium. Detailed work has gone into a potential overhaul of the north London stadium that would increase Arsenal’s current 60,700-capacity to beyond 70,000. It would restore the club’s standing as the biggest ground in London, overtaking West Ham United and rivals Tottenham Hotspur. It is understood the club have options to change the gradient of the stands and can also adapt the seating plan to fit in more fans. The outer bowl, however, would remain similar in appearance as the majority of developments being assessed would come inside the ground. Arsenal, though, will be well aware that Real Madrid doubled their matchday income following their recent upgrade to the Bernabéu, which generated €241m (£210m) in the most recent accounting year. Industry experts believe that a comparably steep year-on-year increase is feasible. Arsenal are restricted by...

Milan City Council passed a vote approving the sale of San Siro to Inter and Milan on Tuesday, which clears the path for the construction of a new stadium on the site.  The sale is expected to be ratified once due diligence has been completed at the beginning of November. Plans for a new stadium would see San Siro, which the two rival clubs share as their home ground, mostly demolished, with only 10 per cent of the existing structure of the stadium expected to remain. There is currently no indication of where the two sides will play while the new site is being worked on. Milan have played at San Siro since 1926 and it has been shared with Inter since 1947. In 2019, both clubs announced plans to build a new 60,000-seat stadium, though the project stalled due to political opposition and Italy’s heritage regulations, which safeguard historic structures. In September 2023, Milan announced plans to construct a new 70,000-capacity stadium in the south-eastern area of the city in an...

Manchester United have more than footballing reasons to bear in mind when considering whether or not to bring the Amorim experiment to an abrupt end. Sacking managers/head coaches costs money and, at United, financial concerns have been a prominent topic since Sir Jim Ratcliffe acquired a stake in the club in February 2024. For almost 27 years from the late 1980s, United didn’t need to worry about what changing their manager would cost. Sir Alex Ferguson’s lengthy and wildly successful time in charge ensured any problems tended to reside away from the Old Trafford dugout. Much has changed since his 2013 retirement. Amorim is that dugout’s sixth permanent occupant in the subsequent 12 years. All that flux comes at a price. Ferguson’s own departure, while plainly not a sacking, brought about £2.4million ($3.2m at the current rate) in costs to remove coaching staff not wanted by his successor, David Moyes. Just 10 months into a six-year deal, Moyes was out by the following April. Remo...

Juventus’ 2024/25 accounts cover a season when they finished fourth in Serie A, thus qualifying for the Champions League, but only thanks to an away win against Venezia on the last day of the season. Coming fourth was not too bad, but Juventus have struggled by their own lofty standards in the last five years, given that they had won the league no fewer than nine seasons in a row before that. Juventus’ pre-tax loss significantly reduced from €196m to €50m, as revenue rose €68m (18%) from €372m to €440m and profit from player sales almost quadrupled from €23m to €90m. Although the substantial reduction in the pre-tax loss is obviously good news, the fact is that Juventus still lost €50m before tax, which is hardly small change.   Looking at the latest published results, which are a mixture of the 2023/24 and 2024/25 seasons, Juve’s loss was still one of the worst in Serie A, only smaller than Roma €76m, Parma €64m and Monza €54m. In the three years up to 2023/24, the “Old Lady” ...