The Political Economy of Football V2

 Andrea Agnelli, one of the architects of European football’s controversial Super League, is launching a comeback as a sports investor. Five years after his failed attempt to upend the continent’s footballing landscape, Agnelli has established Gamma Waves Partners, an investment firm that will target opportunities in innovative sports competitions and formats, as well as teams and athletes. Based in Amsterdam, where Agnelli now lives, Gamma Waves will manage money invested by the former Juventus boss and co-founders including Rocco Benetton of the eponymous fashion dynasty and former Italian football captain Giorgio Chiellini.  Agnelli acted as vice-chair of the European Super League, a closed league for the continent’s biggest clubs. The project collapsed in 2021 within days of becoming public knowledge after a backlash from supporters and politicians forced clubs to pull out. His new venture will take minority stakes in businesses seeking to boost fan engagement with s...

Andrea Agnelli is chairman of Juventus and chairman of the powerful European Clubs' Association. He is a member of the famous Agnelli family and a board member at Fiat. So when he speaks he needs to be listened to. He has called for the Premier League to be 'streamlined'. England's top flight clubs can play up to 53 games in the Premier League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup (although the cup competitions provide a rare outing for fringe players). Their equivalents in Germany play a maximum of 43. Agnelli wants a general reduction in domestic games with more international club games. This is very much the agenda of the top European clubs. The top six in the Premier League would also support a reduction in its size, although it would require smaller clubs to agree to be turkeys voting for an early Christmas. Reducing the size of the Premier League could, however, lead to a reduction in the number of clubs relegated to two or even one. This would, of course, not go down...