The Political Economy of Football V2

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...