The Political Economy of Football V2

Another summer gone, another record broken. The rest of Europe will once more have gazed with envious eyes (or scarcely contained fury) as Premier League clubs indulged in another year of lavish spending. It had seemed at one point that last year’s figure of £3.1billion gross spending during the summer transfer window, which obliterated the previous record of £2.4billion, would not be reached. But as the end of the transfer window neared, clubs embarked on a spree that to some looked more akin to panic buying, perhaps for fear of being left behind by their rivals. Even before Manchester City had set a joint British transfer record by signing Enzo Fernández from Chelsea for £125million, the summer 2025 figure had been passed but once that move was confirmed, a new £3.3billion mark of gross spending had been set. There are some significant differences compared with last summer, however. Chelsea are once again among the biggest spenders with £349million splashed out, but they are ac...

A fourth Premier League season has now begun with 115 charges hanging over Manchester City, who have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. You must go all the way back to March 2019 to find the root of this disciplinary action, a time when the Premier League confirmed they were investigating City following a series of allegations published by German newspaper Der Spiegel. Using documents provided by Football Leaks, the whistleblower platform set up by Portuguese computer hacker and activist Rui Pinto, it was claimed that City had manipulated the value of several commercial deals in order to circumvent UEFA’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules. Abu Dhabi-based companies, namely Etihad Airways and Etisalat, were alleged to have helped a club owned by Sheikh Mansour, de facto leader of the country, reach financial compliance.  UEFA launched and completed its own disciplinary case against City, who successfully appealed a two-year ban from UEFA competitions through the Court of Arb...

The authoritative Swiss Ramble provides an overview of Premier League finances.  Much more Information and analysis is available on his Substack page. The Premier League has now lost money seven years in a row. Obviously, this was adversely impacted by the pandemic, which led to the huge losses reported during the COVID seasons with £992m in 2019/20 and £689m in 2020/2.   However, it has not been much better since then, losing a hefty £2.3 bln in the last four seasons, leading to an annual average loss of £564m.   That represents a dramatic worsening compared to the performance before the pandemic, e.g. it generated £786m profit in the four seasons up to 2018/19. ‘ Creative accounting; The Premier League’s losses in recent years would have been even higher without the inclusion of exceptional gains from selling assets to other group companies.   This amounted to a record £293m in 2024/25, including Newcastle United £133m, largely from the sale of St James’ Park...

While our attention has been focused on the World Cup, the Premier League transfer market has been heating up with plenty of cash to splash. Tottenham Hotspur are tired of fighting relegation. The Lewis family has injected cash. Spurs have spent €267mn on players so far this window, higher than any other club, according to data tracker Transfermarkt. Manchester City haven’t won the league for two seasons straight. That won’t do for Khaldoon Al Mubarak, who chairs the club and leads UAE sovereign investor Mubadala. City has a new manager, Enzo Maresca, who joined after a messy exit from Chelsea. The club has spent €175.20 mn, including the signing of England midfielder Elliott Anderson from Nottingham Forest for £116mn (€136mn). Spurs have recouped almost €70mn from selling players, City around €23mn, but neither has sold quite like Newcastle and Chelsea, who have moved on €188mn and €132mn of players respectively. Having missed out on the Champions League, private equity-ow...

Leeds United are considering taking legal action against Leicester City in the wake of Burnley’s landmark compensation victory over Everton. Everton were ordered to pay £40m after Burnley argued they would have avoided relegation from the Premier League in 2022 had the Merseyside club’s six-point punishment for breaking Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) been applied during the season of the breach and not in 2023-24.  Last week’s decision, which was handed down by an independent disciplinary commission and is the subject of an appeal by Everton, was deemed to be a watershed moment that could open the door to further action between rival clubs. Leeds are now exploring how Leicester’s PSR issues affected two of their own seasons. The first is 2022-23, when both Leeds and Leicester were relegated, and then 2023-24, when Leicester gained automatic promotion back to the top flight and Leeds lost in the play-offs.  In September 2024, Leicester won an app...

Nearly seven years ago, Silver Lake, a technology-focused investor, committed primary equity amounting to an approximate 10 per cent interest in City Football Group, the owner of Manchester City and other clubs worldwide. This involved partnering as a minority investor with Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan of Abu Dhabi as the majority owner, investing in growth and backing a world-class manager and executive team. Over time, Silver Lake increased its stake to approximately 18 per cent. Substantial investment in top players has been central to the strategy. But cash alone is not sufficient to win prestigious trophies every year, let alone build an enduring culture or clear team identity. Manager Pep Guardiola, who left City in May after 10 successful years at the helm, repeatedly praised the stability, expertise and trust of the ownership as vital elements of the magic formula. A Financial Times contributor argues that we should consider the private equity investment in Chelsea in...

The chief UK financial regulator has warned Premier League football clubs they could face legal action over “questionable sponsorship deals” with crypto companies that are not authorised to operate in Britain. The Financial Conduct Authority has written a letter to Premier League men’s clubs stating they risk enforcement action by taking sponsorship money from crypto and trading companies that are not permitted to offer services in the UK. Crypto companies have become prolific sponsors of top-tier teams in recent years as they seek to tap into the millions of football supporters and encourage them to trade digital tokens.  The FCA said it had seen “an increase in football club partnerships with unauthorised firms, some of which appear to be operating unlawfully”. In the letter, Fiona Mackinnon-Miller, head of the FCA department overseeing scams, promotions and consumer investments, warned that such deals “risk conferring legitimacy on these firms and may expose UK consumers to ...

The penalties imposed on Chelsea have reignited interest in the charges made against Manchester City  There has been no formal movement in the Premier League’s case against Manchester City for over a year. Following a four-year long investigation, City were originally charged with 115 breaches of the league’s financial regulations in February 2023 — depending on classification, it could even be understood as 130 breaches. City deny all charges, but broadly, the Premier League allege that the club breached profit and sustainability rules (PSR) by disguising payments from ownership as sponsorship, and providing undeclared salary or bonuses to players and managers. The in-person hearing began on September 16 2024, finishing almost three months later on December 6. The three-person independent panel then retired to reach their decision. Fifteen months have now passed without an update. “I really can’t comment, and there are very good reasons for that,” Premier League CEO Richard Master...

The Swiss Ramble was invited to give a presentation at the FT Football Business Summit on the increasingly popular model of multi-club ownership.   For some reason this contribution was not publicised by the Pink 'Un. It is the most thorough data-based treatment I have seen of the motivations for multi-club ownership and the advantages and drawbacks of the model.   Of itself it is a reason for subscribing to the Zurich-based football finance guru's Substack page. My only additional comment would be don't forget the wood for the trees.  I would argue that globalisation is alive and well in football and one thing that a globalisation model encourages is holding assets in different countries, albeit that the junior subsidiaries lose out. The Swiss Ramble states: ' One of the best known examples of multi-club ownership is City Football Group, largely owned by Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG). They first acquired Manchester City in 2008, but have significantly expanded ...

 In 2024/25, Real Madrid remained the only football club to generate over €1 billion in revenue, doing so for the second consecutive year. While the club reported a 6% decrease in matchday revenue, primarily driven by a reduction in revenue from the sale of Personal Seat Licenses, its €233m matchday revenue would still rank as the second highest ever generated by a Money League club. Additionally, the club reported a 23% increase in commercial revenue, driven by improved merchandise performance and new commercial partners. For the first time since 2019/20, FC Barcelona returned to the Deloitte Money League podium (2 nd ), generating €975m. Despite continuing to play matches away from the Spotify Camp Nou, which is due for completion during the 2025/26 season, the club reported a 27% growth in revenue compared to 2023/24. A key driver for this growth was the introduction of Personal Seat Licence arrangements, generating one-off c.€70m. Much like Real Madrid during the 2023/24 se...

The authoritative Swiss Ramble asks which clubs have benefitted most from European competition over the past decade.  Real Madrid have earned the most TV money from UEFA competitions in the last 10 years, being the only club to break through the billion Euros barrier with €1,021m. Four other clubs have received more than €800m in this period: Paris Saint-Germain €974m, Manchester City €935m, Bayern Munich €935m and Barcelona €836m. Half of the top six are from La Liga, as Atletico Madrid are in sixth place with €761m. The next highest English clubs are further back, namely Liverpool €725m, Chelsea €589m, Manchester United €537m, Arsenal €480m and Tottenham €429m. As might be expected, the so-called Big Six English clubs have received the lion’s share of UEFA TV money in the last 10 years, amounting to €3.7 bln or 90% of the English distribution.   Manchester City have been by far the most successful English club in Europe with their €935m being €110m more than the next hig...

Football is now as much a financial and legal contest as a sporting one and who better to review the past year and possible future developments than football finance guru Kieran Maguire:  https://insidersport-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/insidersport.com/2025/12/29/kieran-maguire-football-man-city-court/?amp=&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

Manchester City recorded their first non-Covid financial year loss in a decade as they invested heavily in first-team signings, reports the New York Times.  City posted their third-highest revenue total of £694.1million – a decrease of £20.9m compared to the year before – but lost £9.9m for the year ending June 30, 2025. City brought in £145m from player sales and committed £353m on new players, but chief executive Ferran Soriano stated that these were not short-term fixes, rather an acceleration of the investment planned to kickstart a new cycle. As with the previous year’s accounts, the board acknowledged that the 115 Premier League charges the club has faced since February 2023 was one of “a number of risks and uncertainties which could have a material impact on the Club’s performance”. City’s fallow year on the field in 2024-25 was mirrored by a slowing of the financial juggernaut off it, as declining revenues saw the prior season’s £73.8million pre-tax profit swing to a ...

  The authoritative Swiss Ramble looks at the gap between the ‘Big Six’ and other top flight clubs. They invariably have the financial muscle to ensure that results such as Unitrd and Spurs last season are the exception, rather than the rule, while other less fortunate clubs cannot afford a bad season or two, as shown by Leicester City’s decline since surprisingly winning the league. If we define success as qualifying for Europe, an achievement that has the added benefit of enhancing revenue streams, there is no debate around the success of the Big Six. In the last 15 years, there have been only two occasions when less than five members of the Big Six failed to qualify for European competitions. Indeed, in more than half of those seasons, all six clubs successfully negotiated this hurdle. Moreover, they almost always qualified for the lucrative Champions League. Out of the 63 slots available since 2010/11, all but four of them have gone to the Big Six, the only exceptions b...

The joke used to be 25 years ago that any modern Subbuteo set required an accountant.   Today a VAR team needs to be added, but above all a team of lawyers. Burnley have brought an action against Everton for £50m in relation to their relegation from the Premier League a few years ago when Everton broke Profitability and Sustainability Rules:  https://toffeeweb.com/season/24-25/news/46685.html It's not something I like to see, but Burnley would no doubt argue it's worth a try.    If they do get compensated, I doubt whether it will be £50m.   Once again the growing band of sports lawyers will be the real winners.  If there is not an out of court settlement, the case could last for two months. Burnley were one of five clubs — also including Leeds United, Leicester City, Southampton and Nottingham Forest — who had indicated earlier in the process that they would consider legal action should Everton’s breach be confirmed. Burnley will argue...

The authoritative Swiss Ramble takes a look at the money clubs receive from Uefa competitions even before they have started playing.   There are many factors to consider and the Zurich-based Substack writer has the data to address them.   The message that emerges is once again ‘to them that hath shall be given.’   Of course, arguably the funding was tweaked as one way of discouraging the formation of a Super League. The country that is guaranteed most money from the Champions League this season is England with €326m, followed by the other four members of the “Big Five” leagues, namely Spain €243m, Germany €216m, Italy €180m and France €149m.   There is then a big gap to the Netherlands €75m and Portugal €74m, with the rest of the top ten being made up of Belgium €59m, Greece €32m and Norway €31m. Crystal Palace could earn €22m (£19m) if they manage to win the Conference League, which would be around half of the Europa League.   This is scant c...

Premier League CEO Richard Masters refused to be drawn on questions surrounding the apparent delay to the league’s ongoing legal case against Manchester City. City were charged with 115 breaches of Premier League regulations in February 2023, with the formal hearing concluding on December 6 last year. Over eight months later, the independent three-person panel has not released any decision. Asked at a media event on the eve of the Premier League season whether he was disappointed with the length of the process, Masters replied: “I really can’t comment and there are very good reasons for that. As you know, our rules are very clear. “I can’t talk about the process in any aspect between the period when allegations and charges are announced until a decision is handed down, and it would be wrong for me to speculate about when or whether there are any frustrations in the system.” This has been a testing process for Masters, with Premier League clubs seemingly at loggerheads over the ...

The Club World Cup has certainly been controversial.  Thanks to the generosity of streaming platform DAZN, who paid a thumping great $1 bn for a TV rights deal, even though other broadcasters had shown little interest, FIFA were able to create a massive prize pot for the event of the same amount. Some cynical observers have noted that shortly after the agreement was signed, the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) bought a 10% minority stake in DAZN for, you guessed it, $1 bln.   A week later, FIFA confirmed that Saudi Arabia would be the hosts of the 2034 men’s World Cup, though to be fair they were the only bidders. To place this into perspective, the FIFA Club World Cup’s €857m ($1 bn) revenue is around 40% of the UEFA Champion League’s €2.5 bn, but is more than the Europa League €565m and Europa Conference €285m combined. The prize money would have been even higher in terms of Euros if the Dollar had not tanked in the last few months. For example, using the Jan...

The Club World Cup has generated little excitement in the UK and although I watched some of the games on 5, others do not appear to have been broadcast (ok, one can go to DAZN.com).  Financially, it's case of to those that hath shall be given in large part. A look at the prize money leaders throws up some familiar (some might say obvious) names. Sitting at the top are Manchester City, the only club to exceed $50m so far. Behind them are some of the wealthiest clubs in world football: Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, and on it goes. Regardless of the order, it’s fairly clear European sides will be taking home most of the spoils. The top eight prize money spots are occupied by European clubs and of the $741m allocated, $424.5m (57 per cent) has gone to UEFA clubs. On average, the 12 competing clubs from football’s richest continent have earned $35.4m apiece this summer.   The distribution of participation fees ensured Europe’s clubs would always get the bigge...

Manchester City have been fined more than £1million ($1.34m) by the Premier League over multiple breaches of their kick-off and restart obligations for the 2024-25 season. City have accepted and apologised for nine breaches of Premier League rule L.33, relating to late kick-offs throughout the campaign, with the fine for each individually breach incrementally increasing, adding up to £1.03m ($1.38m). It comes one year after City were fined more than £2m after breaching L.33 on 22 separate occasions, eight times in 2022-23 and on 14 occasions in 2023-24. City’s home match against Manchester United on December 15, 2024, saw delays at both kick-off and resuming after half-time, totalling three minutes and 42 seconds. Some think that the delays were relatively trivial, others have pointed out that the fans are not going to hit City hard.