The Political Economy of Football V2

Manchester United’s part-owner Ineos is seeking an early termination of its multimillion-pound sponsorship deal with Tottenham Hotspur as Sir Jim Ratcliffe continues the drastic reduction of his investment in sport. In 2022 Ineos struck a five-year deal with the north London club to promote its 4×4 Grenadier car, displaying the company’s logo on the seats in both dugouts and on the digital advertising hoardings during matches. It could be seen during United’s Premier League encounter at the Tottenham Stadium last weekend. The Times has revealed that Ineos is now in what have been described as amicable discussions to exit their deal with Spurs two years early.

As it complains about ‘the deindustrialisation of Europe’, INEOS is undertaking a slowing down or outright cutting of investment in what had been flagship businesses.  On Wednesday, the INEOS Group received a further blow when leading agencies Fitch Ratings and Moody’s downgraded their credit rating to “negative”, citing mounting debts of almost €12bn (£10bn), over five times larger than INEOS’ annual earnings.  INEOS’ recent business decisions have the appearance of stripping back to protect the motherlode, but even United have not escaped the cost-cutting.   On Tuesday,  The Athletic  reported that Ratcliffe was following up 250 job losses last summer by making another 100 staff roles redundant over the upcoming months. This is just the latest in a string of what Ratcliffe has termed “right-sizing” measures — such as removing club credit cards and cutting Sir Alex Ferguson’s ambassadorial deal, as well as raising ticket prices and eliminatin...

Networks of football clubs in shared ownership are a growing phenomenon. The best known is City Football Group which controls Manchester City alongside a global network of clubs. Red Bull Salzburg in Austria has substantial influence over RB Leipzig in Germany. Controversial Charlton Athletic owner Roland Duchatelet tried to construct his own network which ran from Spain to Hungary via England and Belgium. It has now been largely dismantled. The latest network is being constructed by Jim Ratcliffe, a reclusive 67-year old Briton who has made his money through his low profile petrochemicals company Ineos. He has an estimated fortune of £18bm. He has invested in a wide array of sporting assets from sailing to cycling (he is a Manchester United fan). All football clubs in a network benefit from shared scouting networks, data analysis teams and coaches. But at Ineos, each club could get an edge from experts in different sporting disciplines, such as nutritionists and physiotherapis...

Jim Ratcliffe, the multi-billionaire founder and chairman of the UK petrochemicals company Ineos, is buying Swiss club FC Lausanne Sport for an undisclosed sum. The club plays in the country's top tier Super League. It enjoyed its glory days between the 1930s and 1960s and is currently mid-table. The company has invested over many years in youth and community sports in Canton Vaud where it has headquarters for many of its businesses. The company is not seeking to make a profit out of its acquisition, seeing it as an investment in the community. However, should they sell in the future, they are not anticipating having lost any money. The company insists that it is not a vanity project. David Thompson, the chief executive of Ineos Football, a newly created business within the group, says that the target is to have a team that can qualify for European football in four years' time. The deal requires approval by the Swiss Football League.