The Political Economy of Football V2

Fenway Sports Group believe there is an opportunity to restore Malaga to the upper echelons of the Spanish and European game and there is huge potential for the only professional team in Spain’s sixth-largest city with a population of around 600,000.  The team also has a loyal fan base — even when playing in the third tier last season, attendances at its rustic La Rosaleda stadium regularly topped 20,000. That strong support helped the team, coached by long-time club servant Sergio Pellicer, to get promoted back to Segunda in 2023-24, despite the ongoing off-pitch turmoil. Malaga is also a well-known tourist destination, and the Costa del Sol area is home to a wealthy expat community, bringing opportunities for VIP matchday revenues and international marketing. Fenway Sports Group is routinely held up as an exceptionally valuable sporting empire, with Forbes pricing the group at $12.95billion in 2024, pitching them as the world’s third-most valuable sporting group a...

Globalisation may be disappearing in other spheres of economic activity as protectionist barries are raised, but the spread of the multi-club model suggests that it is alive and well in football (soccer).  Liverpool are the latest club to jump on board. Ever since the appointment of Michael Edwards as chief executive of football at Fenway Sports Group (FSG) in March 2024, it has been clear the multi-club ownership model is coming to Anfield.   Edwards, Liverpool’s former sporting director, returned to the FSG fold with the belief that the club has little choice but to expand if it is to “remain competitive” in the Premier League and beyond. The key to that is an ambitious plan to invest in a partner club. FSG’s multi-club plans mean falling in line with the Premier League crowd, effectively. Well over half of the 20 teams in the English top flight now have relationships with at least one other European club and the pattern has been extended in the past two years. Liver...

Cardiff City Vincent Tan looks as if he could be setting out to rival former Charlton Athletic Roland Duchatelet as he considers adding to his network of clubs by buying financially troubled Malaga: Vincent Tan As well as Cardiff City, Tan owns Belgian Belgian First Division KV Kortrijk and Bosnian club FK Sarajevo and is co-owner of Los Angeles FC. It's tangled tale at Malaga but the club could be available at a knockdown price. A judicial investigator is now in charge of the club after the Qatari businessmen who owned it was removed for six months: FC Malaga

Former Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon is fronting a bid to take over financially troubled Malaga. Owner Sheikh Abdullah is under pressure to step down and it is thought that Calderon is representing an investment group from Qatar: Malaga takeover