The Political Economy of Football V2

The brutal facts of lower league football finance revealed as Kieran Maguire runs the rule over the finances of Bristol Rovers.  The club has done well to increase revenues, but has not kept pace with rising costs:  https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/bristol-rovers-finances-show-brutal-11019084

Leeds United are considering taking legal action against Leicester City in the wake of Burnley’s landmark compensation victory over Everton. Everton were ordered to pay £40m after Burnley argued they would have avoided relegation from the Premier League in 2022 had the Merseyside club’s six-point punishment for breaking Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) been applied during the season of the breach and not in 2023-24.  Last week’s decision, which was handed down by an independent disciplinary commission and is the subject of an appeal by Everton, was deemed to be a watershed moment that could open the door to further action between rival clubs. Leeds are now exploring how Leicester’s PSR issues affected two of their own seasons. The first is 2022-23, when both Leeds and Leicester were relegated, and then 2023-24, when Leicester gained automatic promotion back to the top flight and Leeds lost in the play-offs.  In September 2024, Leicester won an app...

The US billionaire owners of Crystal Palace are exploring a sale of the south London football club, in what would make it the latest Premier League side to change hands in English football’s top flight. According to people with direct knowledge of the matter, speaking to the Financial Times, the club is working with bankers at Raine Group to handle the process and is open to a variety of options including a full sale. T The people added that other options for securing new capital were also on the table. The club’s current ownership group includes Apollo co-founder Josh Harris, former Blackstone executive David Blitzer and Woody Johnson, a member of the family behind the Johnson & Johnson healthcare empire. The trio are designated as “significant shareholders” alongside British businessman Steve Parish, who has been executive chair of the club since 2010 and is a life-long Palace fan. Harris and Blitzer together control 30 per cent, while Parish has 10 per cent. Johnson, who o...

Newcastle United have struck a three-year front-of-shirt sponsorship deal with KNOX Hydration worth around £60million ($80.6m).   The South African sports drinks company are already paying £6m a season for three years from July 1 to rename the training ground ‘The Knox’, and have now committed to succeeding Sela as the main kit partner. Unlike Sela, which is owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), Newcastle’s majority stakeholders, KNOX is not affiliated with the sovereign wealth fund. For 2026-27, KNOX will pay up to £10m, given Newcastle’s new — and controversial — home kit went on sale last week without a sponsor. But for the following two seasons, that will increase to up to £25m annually, depending on bonuses being met, with the £6m training-ground naming rights fee on top in each of those three years. Newcastle will also work with KNOX to launch a unique club-linked drinks brand, which they hope will bring in additional revenue to aid their ...

Things have changed a lot at Craven Cottage since Tommy Cooper was chairman.  Fulham are arguably London’s poshest club.  As their chief executive has said, Fulham supporters turn left on the plane.   I remember going there some years ago and was placed next to home supporters who were wearing suits.   The club also experimented for a while with having a section for ‘neutral’ fans. The following analysis draws on the latest report from the Swiss Ramble.   The accounts are now a year old, but as the forensic analyst observes from his Zurich lair, the business model remains much the same. i.e, the amount the owner has to shell put would consume all my non-property assets in five days. Under Silva, Fulham have established themselves as a solid Premier League club, losing their tag as a “yo-yo” club. Before the arrival of the Portuguese coach, on the previous two occasions that they were promoted to the top flight they had failed to avoid an immediate ...

Manchester United have taken out a further $125million in long-term debt following a refinancing of borrowings related to the Glazer family’s 2005 takeover. A filing to the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) confirmed on Friday that United have restructured their $425m senior secured notes, which were due for repayment next year. The refinanced debt now amounts to $550m, at a higher interest rate of 5.36 per cent. The previous rate, secured in 2015, was 3.79 per cent. At that higher rate, United’s annual interest payments will rise by approximately £10m at the current exchange rate. During the 2024-25 season, United paid out £37m in interest costs. Having previously been due for repayment in June 2027, United’s terms have now been extended until 2031. United’s senior secured notes are one of the club’s two tranches of long-term debt, alongside a secured term loan facility worth $225m. Both are a legacy of American businessman Malcolm Glazer’s controversial leveraged...

The multi-billion-pound regeneration project that includes a new stadium for Manchester United could be plunged into a “period of uncertainty” if Andy Burnham wins the Makerfield by-election and vacates his present role, The Times can reveal. While the Old Trafford Regeneration Mayoral Development Corporation received UK government approval in January, success for the ‘King of the North’ on June 18 means he would vacate the office of mayor immediately. A by-election would then need to take place by August 6.  But there is concern among senior figures linked to the project that such a change could hinder progress on the building of 15,000 homes as well as a state-of-the-art 100,000-seat stadium on the 370-acre site, with a new mayor potentially able to withhold approval for some funding arrangements, direct the board to shift its focus to the residential development or deny the compulsory purchase of land should it be required.  A spokesman for Reform UK said they would c...

Daniel Kretinsky is poised to become the largest shareholder at West Ham United amid the continuing uncertainty around David Sullivan’s future with the club.  As The Times reported last weekend, club insiders believe the Czech billionaire will respond to Sullivan’s resignation as co-chairman — a decision he took in advance of the publication of a joint investigation by The Times and the BBC into allegations of sexually exploitative and predatory behaviour when he was making his fortune in the adult industry — by increasing his control of the club, who were relegated from the Premier League last month. At present Kretinsky has a 27 per cent share, with Sullivan’s 38.8 per cent now under the scrutiny of the Independent Football Regulator (IFR) in the wake of the allegations.  Sullivan, 77, denies any wrongdoing but the IFR could yet force the British businessman to divest his shares if it now follows its preliminary inquiries by launching an investigation that concludes he...

Just when you think Wolverhampton Wanderers are going to be a normal football club, back come Gestifute and Jorge Mendes to remind everyone what they signed up for. The reaction of thousands of Wolves supporters to Rob Edwards suddenly being sacked — or indeed neutrals seeing the surprising news break late on Wednesday night or early on Thursday morning — will have been a collective: “What? Huh?” That will have been immediately followed by a click on Google to search “Cesar Peixoto”. He is considered one of the most promising coaches in Portuguese football. And he has inspired Gil Vicente to be able to compete with clubs boasting significantly larger budgets. However, his career history is checkered to say the least. He was sacked after short-term stints at Pacos de Ferreira and Moreirense, and his 15 months in charge at Gil Vicente is the longest he has lasted at any club. While guiding them to sixth in the Primeira Liga is a notable achievement, it’s not exactly unhea...

An independent commission ruled on Wednesday that Everton must pay Burnley £35.1m after their breach of the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) in 2021-22 was found to have given them a crucial sporting advantage. Everton stayed up and Burnley went down in that season but, four years, on there is now a big bill to settle. Everton, who said in a statement they were “surprised and angered” by the verdict, intend to fight on but the case is likely to have long-term implications. This all dates back to the 2021-22 season, when Everton were found to have breached PSR with an overspend of £19.5m. Everton finished that campaign in 16th position but, importantly in this case, Burnley ended up relegated in 18th. The final gap between the two clubs was four points. Burnley have always felt wronged, believing that Everton’s breach resulted in them enjoying an unfair sporting advantage. The claim has consistently been made, all the way back to May 2023 with the ...

Boyle Sports, a principal partner of West Ham and whose logo appeared on the front of their men’s and women’s team shirts last season, is the first of the club’s commercial partners to comment on the claims made about Sullivan in a joint investigation by the BBC and The Times. In a statement to  The Athletic , a Boyle Sports spokesperson said: “BOYLE Sports is extremely concerned at the serious nature of the allegations levelled against David Sullivan. “It is our understanding that the Independent Football Regulator is reviewing this matter urgently and we wholeheartedly support their efforts in doing so.” The BBC/Times investigation accused Sullivan, 77, of abusing his power while he was owner of the adult-themed Daily and Sunday Sport newspaper. The accusations, which date back to the 1980s, were by seven different women in their late teens or early twenties, who claim Sullivan preyed on them for sex in return for advancing their modelling careers. Sullivan has said that ...

David Sullivan could be forced to sell his stake in West Ham United by the football regulator, following allegations that he abused his power to prey on women for sex. The Independent Football Regulator (IFR) said it was in contact with the club after The Times and BBC  Panorama  revealed claims about Sullivan’s behaviour from seven women.   It said it was seeking “urgent information” from Sullivan after the 77-year-old was accused of sexually exploitative and predatory behaviour dating back to the 1980s. Sullivan categorically denies the claims. England’s new football regulator could make Sullivan sell his stake in West Ham, where he remains the largest shareholder with 38.8 per cent of the club, despite resigning as co-chair on Saturday. The IFR, introduced under last year’s Football Governance Act, is an independent watchdog and oversees its owners, directors and senior executives regime for clubs across the Premier League and English Football League. It h...

Florentino Pérez’s re-election on Sunday as president of football club Real Madrid revives what sounds like one of the world’s least enticing investment opportunities. Pérez aims to sell 5 per cent of the world’s richest club, through a new subsidiary, subject to a referendum of its 100,000 or so owner-members, or socios. His defeated challenger Enrique Riquelme had attacked that plan as a “privatisation”, as though Real Madrid is a public good as vital as, say, fresh water. But Pérez explained to the FT last week that the investment would be more like a sponsorship: “In other words, there are people who associate themselves with Real Madrid without expecting anything.” The 79-year-old, who first took the presidency in 2000 when the club was under financial strain, is a shrewd interpreter of what supporters want. Steven Mandis, an adviser to football governing body Fifa and author of two books on Real Madrid, told the Financial Times he has “never seen a management team so relentle...

Nearly seven years ago, Silver Lake, a technology-focused investor, committed primary equity amounting to an approximate 10 per cent interest in City Football Group, the owner of Manchester City and other clubs worldwide. This involved partnering as a minority investor with Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan of Abu Dhabi as the majority owner, investing in growth and backing a world-class manager and executive team. Over time, Silver Lake increased its stake to approximately 18 per cent. Substantial investment in top players has been central to the strategy. But cash alone is not sufficient to win prestigious trophies every year, let alone build an enduring culture or clear team identity. Manager Pep Guardiola, who left City in May after 10 successful years at the helm, repeatedly praised the stability, expertise and trust of the ownership as vital elements of the magic formula. A Financial Times contributor argues that we should consider the private equity investment in Chelsea in...

Over the past decade American financing has reshaped global football in its image, with billions of dollars of investment, a fast-growing domestic audience and a generation of new players. While US owners of European football teams have faced protests from fans for years, friction is rising. Some fear the sport is losing its way in pursuit of profit and that outside money is distorting the game’s balance of power. And yet the arrival of professional investors has so far done little to fix the game’s parlous finances. Americans now own 117 European clubs, according to data from CIES Sports Intelligence, including more than half the teams in the English Premier League, more than a third of Italy’s Serie A and over a quarter of Ligue 1 in France.  The effects are being felt both on and off the pitch. Clubs are increasingly run with commercial success front of mind, aping the US sports model, where team ownership has proved lucrative. This has led to a push to tighten football’s fi...

Florentino Perez has been re-elected Real Madrid president, winning 65 per cent of the votes in an electoral victory over challenger Enrique Riquelme. It was the first time Madrid’s members had voted for the club president in 20 years, with the incumbent Perez elected unopposed in each of Madrid’s previous five electoral cycles, held in 2009, 2013, 2017, 2021 and 2025. Perez did not need to call this election. He had an active mandate until 2029, but announced the vote in a remarkable press conference on May 12, calling on his rivals to “come out of the shadows” and face him.   This snap decision was aimed at strengthening his power at the Bernabeu, after a second successive season without a trophy, and a string of difficult off-pitch setbacks. Although the 79-year-old has now won a new four-year mandate, it is arguable that his standing inside and outside the club has not improved. Few Madrid members even knew who Riquelme was before Perez’s rambling media event last month...

The authoritative Swiss Ramble applies his forensic financial skills to the case of Blackburn Rovers.  Few football fans have suffered as much as those in Blackburn from owners who have no clear strategy.   Coventry City suffered in the same way until a local businessman took control, but Blackburn have a huge debt pile. Venky's are the largest poultry integrator in Asia.   T hey handle everything from breeding, hatcheries, and feed to processed chicken and animal health products.    This is a smart market to be in as chicken is often the first meat consumed in middle income countries as they become more prosperous. Presumably when they bought Blackburn they saw it as adding to their profile and prestige, hope for a return to the Premier League.  However, this would require much more investment than they have been willing to provide. It will take a lot for the bad vibes around the club to go away, given the many issues faced by Rovers. Indeed, l...

Freshly relegated from the Premier League, West Ham United are entering the most crucial summer in their recent history. They will do so with a potentially damaging power vacuum at the top of the club: they have no permanent chief executive, no director of football; in April, Baroness Brady departed as vice-chairwoman; and on Saturday David Sullivan, the co-chairman, resigned too. Sullivan, 77 — who jointly bought a 50 per cent share in West Ham with the late David Gold in 2010 for £50million — is still the biggest shareholder at the club, with 38.8 per cent. He resigned claiming that “serious historic allegations” about him, allegations he “categorically denies”, were about to be made public.    He has said that he may sue the BBC, who propose to broadcast the allegations, for defamation. The Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky has a 27 per cent stake in the club and could increase his influence and shareholding in the coming months, but for more than 15 years, Sulliv...

The FT’s Lex column takes a sceptical look at the Pink Un’s interview with Real Madrid supremo Florentino Pérez a few pages away. What’s the biggest prize in football? Many fans would point to the golden trophy awaiting the winners of the World Cup, which kicks off next week. Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez, however, reckons there’s an even more prestigious honour: owning a piece of his club. Pérez wants the fan-owned club to sell a stake to outside investors for the first time. But, to allay fears among existing members, he insists any new owners won’t actually have real ownership. “It would be like a sponsorship,” he said in an interview with the FT this week. In some respects, Pérez — the architect of Real Madrid’s so-called Galácticos strategy of signing the world’s most famous players — is in tune with the times. Investors in Elon Musk’s rockets-meet-social-media conglomerate SpaceX have practically no say over governance, but the excitement surrounding its impending ...

Florentino Pérez said prospective investors will pay handsomely “for the satisfaction of having a relationship” with Real Madrid but receive nothing in return, as the president of the world’s richest football club pursues a contentious plan to bring in outside capital at a €10bn-plus valuation.   In a rare interview with the English-language press, which came as he fights for re-election, Pérez told the Financial Times that acquiring a stake in member-owned Real Madrid was not like buying a traditional asset that would yield a concrete financial return. “It would be like a sponsorship, let’s put it that way,” he said. “In other words, there are people who associate themselves with Real Madrid without expecting anything.” After presiding over a trophy-laden 22 years at the helm of Real Madrid, Pérez’s future lies in the hands of the club’s members after he called a presidential election last month to quell growing unrest around the club. While Real Madrid generated €1.2bn of rev...

Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez is in election mode. He says the Spanish football giants are worth €10bn and rising. “In a few years it will be worth €20bn,” he told the Financial Times this week. He’s not the only one who thinks his club’s value has hit 11 figures. Manchester City chair Khaldoon Al Mubarak, who also leads Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, says the club has multiplied in value since Sheikh Mansour first bought in at an estimated valuation of $100mn-$120mn in 2008. “If you’re going to sell all this today in the market, you wouldn’t sell it for less than $10 billion minimum,” Khaldoon said in his annual interview published by City. He went on to say the club wasn’t for sale, just to be clear. So far only the Los Angeles Lakers have hit the $10bn mark, although the Seattle Seahawks might soon join them. Minority deals are getting done in that ball park too. But can a football team really be worth that much? Real Madrid have been crowned champion...

Senior figures at Tottenham Hotspur insisted on Friday that they had not been informed of any deal to sell Daniel Levy’s stake in the club. A business group, Eight Sports Capital — which is said to include a billionaire Taiwanese financier — claimed that it had an agreement in place to buy a 24.99 per cent stake in ENIC, the club’s majority owners, from Levy, who owns 29.88 per cent. The Times has been told Ng Wing Fai and Brooklyn Earick form part of the group, having both been linked previously to potential takeovers of the Premier League club. The Taiwanese businessman, Richard Tsai, is also said to be part of the consortium. He is reportedly worth £7 billion.  Last year Earick, the former DJ and tech entrepreneur, was part of an attempted £4.5 billion takeover, which was “unequivocally rejected” by Spurs.  An ENIC spokesperson said: “We can confirm that neither ENIC nor THFC are aware of any sale by Daniel Levy’s Family Trust of its minority stake in ENIC, THFC’...

Football finance guru Kieran Maguire reckons that Bristol City will be one of the beneficiaries of the new EFL finance rules.  However, he admits that the real winners are the clubs that receive substantial parachute payments to the detriment of clubs like the Robins:  https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/bristol-city-backed-among-winners-10998947 The football regulator is looking at parachute payments, but no early decision is expected.

The chief UK financial regulator has warned Premier League football clubs they could face legal action over “questionable sponsorship deals” with crypto companies that are not authorised to operate in Britain. The Financial Conduct Authority has written a letter to Premier League men’s clubs stating they risk enforcement action by taking sponsorship money from crypto and trading companies that are not permitted to offer services in the UK. Crypto companies have become prolific sponsors of top-tier teams in recent years as they seek to tap into the millions of football supporters and encourage them to trade digital tokens.  The FCA said it had seen “an increase in football club partnerships with unauthorised firms, some of which appear to be operating unlawfully”. In the letter, Fiona Mackinnon-Miller, head of the FCA department overseeing scams, promotions and consumer investments, warned that such deals “risk conferring legitimacy on these firms and may expose UK consumers to ...

My large family displays no interest in football, the one exception being a son-in-law who is a Southampton season ticket holder.   I have not intruded into private grief but his wife tells me he will not discuss Spygate. The following material extracts highlights from the Swiss Ramble’s latest review of the club.   Much more in depth analysis is available on his Substack page. Southampton had long been held up as an example of a club punching above its weight, finishing in the top eight four seasons in a row during their 11-year stay in the top flight, but went down in 2022/23, finishing in 20th place. The relegation in 2022/23 took place in the first full season under the control of Serbian media mogul Dragan Solak, who bought 80% of the club for £100m in January 2022 via his investment vehicle Sport Republic Limited.   However, the rot had already started to set in after Chinese businessman Gao Jisheng acquired a majority stake in 2017, with Katharina Liebhe...