The Political Economy of Football V2

Everton fans might start to think they have gone out of the frying pan into the fire with their prospective new owners, but there are no viable alternatives on offer. Everton’s prospective new owners, 777 Partners, were warned by the head of the British Basketball League (BBL) this month that the competition faced being put into “immediate administration” unless a delayed payment of £825,000 was received. The Premier League’s legal experts are studying 777’s takeover bid and the American investment company’s owners can expect to be quizzed over its financial dealings with the BBL, which it co-owns. UK Sport and the government are understood to be monitoring the situation as public funding was provided for the BBL clubs in the form of loans during the Covid pandemic. The British Basketball Federation, the sport’s governing body in the UK, has also launched a review of 777’s ownership. Everton fits perfectly into the model that 777 Partners has established for its football operat...

Takeovers, even partial ones, are relatively rare in the Bundesliga. Hence, it is a significant development when a controversial businessman buys a minority stake in Hertha Berlin. Lars Windhorst has splashed out €125m on a 37.5 per cent stake in the heavily indebted (€119.6m) and loss-making club. He has an option to acquire a further 12.4 per cent in the future at a higher valuation through his investment vehicle Tennor Holding which would give him effective control. Mr Windhorst has a history of legal troubles. He is at the centre of a controversy over illiquid and high-risk corporate bonds held by H2O Asset Management’s funds, a subsidiary of French bank Natixis. The funds suffered outflows of more than €5bn since the Financial Times reported on the exposure last week. However, his spokesman has specifically denied that it is a trophy purchase saying it would be too expensive for that. He thinks there is real potential in a club located in Germany's capital city. In pa...