Football's Magic Money Tree

[Chester Perry]

Chelsea join the multi-club model as they buy almost total control of Strasbourg

Chelsea launch multi-club project with deal to buy majority stake in Strasbourg
Chelsea paying £65m for close to 100% stake in French side
Boehly has been looking for suitable clubs since last summer
https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... ub-project
https://archive.is/mEltO

the acquisition of Strasbourg makes Chelsea the 11th club in the Premier League to engage in the multi-model

https://twitter.com/CIESsportsintel/sta ... zl3rQuAAAA



we know Newcastle United and our club are exploring such opportunities and whoever is successful (it the takeover actually happens) in bidding for Manchester United will also be involved in similar

It could be argued that Liverpool are part of a multi-club model via minority shareholder Red Bird Capital

[Chester Perry]

KPMG's Football Benchmark has become something of an irrelevance to the British media - which in itself is interesting, it goes to explain why I missed this early this month

Football Benchmark's European Elite 2023 looking at Football club valuation - it is a bit disingenuous because it doesn't focus on just valuation to get more of a geographical spread

https://www.footballbenchmark.com/docum ... 202023.pdf

[Chester Perry]

This is the Telegraph article in full - the title gives you the general gist

Aston Villa accused of ‘dangerous’ new shirt sponsorship deal with ‘misogynist’ betting company BK8
Villa's new shirt partner was previously dropped by Norwich due to its sexualised adverts with young women
https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fw ... ing-ban%2F

there is this from this thread



there was this thread when the partnership was announced with our club

http://www.uptheclarets.com/messageboar ... 8#p1880450

the original Norwich cancelation story - also in this thread

Philippe Auclair has written a new piece for Josimar Football about BK8

In the name of charity
Aston Villa FC have just signed a three-year, eight-figure sponsorship deal with BK8, a gambling operator which is licensed in the United Kingdom but carries out its activities almost exclusively in Far Eastern countries where sports gambling is illegal.
https://josimarfootball.com/2023/06/23/ ... f-charity/
https://archive.is/IIJln

He was on Mark Saggers show last night with a member of the Villa Trust talking about it

then today he revealed that the company that owns the UK trademark for BK8 (Black Hawk Technologies Ltd) was issued a first gazette notice on the 2nd of May for failing to file both Accounts and Confirmation Statement on time - sounds familiar doesn't it)
https://find-and-update.company-informa ... ng-history

https://twitter.com/PhilippeAuclair/sta ... vkxLguAAAA

still they have until Sunday 2nd July to comply

[Chester Perry]

Interesting move though I am not sure exactly what initiatives can be enacted or when they will be actioned

Uefa meeting to discuss ruling on multi-club model in wake of Chelsea’s Strasbourg takeover
European competitions are set for a number of clashes between clubs owned by the same groups next season
https://archive.is/m4pwE

the news comes on the day another American group by a second club to become a multi-club operation

Official: Roma owners The Friedkin Group finalise deal to acquire French club AS Cannes
https://romapress.net/the-friedkin-grou ... as-cannes/

just how UEFA plans to stop this is likely to be a very complex question to answer

[Chester Perry]

In January this year I wrote an article for the London Clarets Magazine 'Something to write home about' called 'Custodians no more' whose central premise was that football club owners and those who run the the fans of the club games operating bodies were no longer custodians of the game we once took them to be - you can find a the online to it here https://twitter.com/LondonClarets/statu ... 7467284491

In a new blog piece Martin Calladine (known as @UglyGame on twitter) has used the fans of the club he supports (Reading) as a metaphor for what he sees as a modern complicity in the the end of custodianship in the beautiful game - he makes a strong case

Cheering on our own ruin
After a tumultuous few years, Reading have been relegated, run up huge debts, don’t own their own stadium and have yet another points deduction coming down the line. But who’s willing to take responsibility?
https://theuglygame.wordpress.com/2023/ ... -own-ruin/
https://archive.is/b8mvP

[Paul Waine]

KPMG's Football Benchmark has become something of an irrelevance to the British media - which in itself is interesting, it goes to explain why I missed this early this month

Football Benchmark's European Elite 2023 looking at Football club valuation - it is a bit disingenuous because it doesn't focus on just valuation to get more of a geographical spread

https://www.footballbenchmark.com/docum ... 202023.pdf

Hi CP, "KPMG's Football Benchmark..." is no longer KPMG's. Page 28 of the document you link explains that it was sold off by KPMG in April 2022.

Interesting that the report includes Leicester - but also states in their methodology that it selects clubs that aren't under threat of relegation. Everton are also in the top 50.

What do you make of the Enterprise Valuation methodology, i.e. including both owners' equity and debt in club ev?

[Chester Perry]

A fascinating Podcast - based on a radio programme from last night

The Premier League Promotion Problem
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0fxgs16

deals with a lot of the issues that fans refuse to recognise - naturally many are financial

[Chester Perry]

some of you may have seen Kieran Maguires tweets this morning about the Birmingham City takeover - quite where he got hold of the sales agreement I don't know - though the Hong Kong Stock Exchange may have played its part

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 1644316672

this blog piece from earlier this month about the takeover by city fan almajir is deeply fascinating including the various bits of detail on how the takeover entity is likely to be funded - highly complex and somewhat different to ourselves

https://almajir.net/2023/06/02/the-take ... hthead-mo/

[Chester Perry]

Philippe Auclair and his colleagues recently won an award for the investigative journalism behind as series of exposes under the umbrella of Devil in the Data - many of which have featured in this thread and can be found listed at the end of this article on why the award was made

https://www.investigativejournalismfore ... orts-data/

They have not rested on their laurels though - in the last few weeks Josimar Football has been posting a new seies of pieces on football's relationship with betting companies and more specifically those white label names we see on the front of football shirts - these are extensive articles and amongst those names feature are our on training kit sponsor X8Bet (a few here lamented this choice of partner, many couldn't care less, a feature that extends to the boardroom at Turf Moor it seems.

All this comes as we await the Governments White Paper on gambling and last weeks rather useless voluntary ban on 'front of shirt' sponsorship in just over 3 seasons - note the ban does not include sleeve, training kit, perimeter or 'preferred partner' deals. The articles are listed in order of appearance

The monster with a thousand faces
https://josimarfootball.com/the-monster ... and-faces/
https://archive.is/dKIw7

The missing link
https://josimarfootball.com/the-missing-link/
https://archive.is/Zw8jc

Behind 8XBet’s Great Wall
https://josimarfootball.com/behind-8xbets-great-wall/
https://archive.is/MaxT0

Entering The Matrix via The Midlands
https://josimarfootball.com/entering-th ... -midlands/
https://archive.is/HorIw

those wanting to know more about White Label betting companies - Burnley FC have W88 as shirt sponsor and BK8 as Training Kit sponsor (both white label betting companies - whose real purpose is to lure customers in Asian betting markets - often where it is illegal to advertise - even trade) should read the above links

[GodIsADeeJay81]

Screenshot_20230627-205934.png (356.95 KiB) Viewed 6241 times

[Chester Perry]

The pitfalls of Footballs relationship to gambling are widespread - there are questionable issues across the board, and one of the bigger concerns within the game is to do with match fixing - here are some recent articles from Josimar - possibly the best source of investigative journalism in football- on the issue

Down Under and top of the world
Australia, a country with just 12 professional football teams, has become the leading provider of matches for the opaque offshore betting market. Josimar has confirmed that police recently investigated one of these games.
https://josimarfootball.com/2023/06/15/ ... the-world/
https://archive.is/JL2lZ

The integrity partner facilitating Brazilian match-fixing
Unregulated betting operators are using data from Sportradar, the same company tasked with protecting Brazilian football from match-fixing. The Brazilian Government has called for Federal Police to open an inquiry into fixed in-play events in Brazilian football.
https://josimarfootball.com/2023/06/20/ ... ch-fixing/
https://archive.is/cYyFp

[Chester Perry]

The LFP - French Ligue - appear to have not learned their very expensive lessons about the true value of their TV rights

THE LFP HOPING TO ACHIEVE €1BN A YEAR IN FRENCH FOOTBALL TV RIGHTS REVENUE IN NEXT CYCLE
https://www.getfootballnewsfrance.com/2 ... ext-cycle/
https://archive.is/Ol7NE

[Chester Perry]

some of you may have seen Kieran Maguires tweets this morning about the Birmingham City takeover - quite where he got hold of the sales agreement I don't know - though the Hong Kong Stock Exchange may have played its part

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 1644316672

this blog piece from earlier this month about the takeover by city fan almajir is deeply fascinating including the various bits of detail on how the takeover entity is likely to be funded - highly complex and somewhat different to ourselves

https://almajir.net/2023/06/02/the-take ... hthead-mo/

almajir with an update on the Birmingham City sale

The Takeover: A Buyer Friendly Deal
On Tuesday Birmingham Sports Holdings filed a series of documents with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. As well as the long-awaited Circular to shareholders, BSH confirmed that the EGM for shareholders to approve the sale of Blues to Shelby Companies Limited will take place on July 13, 2023.
https://almajir.net/2023/06/28/the-take ... ndly-deal/

[Chester Perry]

It is always interesting to see how different leagues mange their Financial rules - we have heard plenty about La Liga - courtesy of the shenanigans at Barcelona (and indeed both Atletico and Real Madrid), many may have forgotten that the French can be equally as demanding

JOHN TEXTOR HAS 14 DAYS TO FIND €60M FOR LYON OR FACE PUNISHMENT FROM THE DNCG
https://archive.is/73kcN

As the countdown clock ticks for Olympic Lyonnais/John Textor - the DNCG take action against another American owned club (again part of a multi-club operation) Pacific Media Group owned AS Nancy who are relegated from the the 4th to 5th tier

PMG-OWNED AS NANCY RELEGATED TO FRENCH 5TH TIER FOR FINANCIAL IRREGULARITIES
https://www.getfootballnewsfrance.com/2 ... ularities/
https://archive.is/Sheap

[Chester Perry]

Interesting move though I am not sure exactly what initiatives can be enacted or when they will be actioned

Uefa meeting to discuss ruling on multi-club model in wake of Chelsea’s Strasbourg takeover
European competitions are set for a number of clashes between clubs owned by the same groups next season
https://archive.is/m4pwE

the news comes on the day another American group by a second club to become a multi-club operation

Official: Roma owners The Friedkin Group finalise deal to acquire French club AS Cannes
https://romapress.net/the-friedkin-grou ... as-cannes/

just how UEFA plans to stop this is likely to be a very complex question to answer

The latest count of clubs worldwide involved in multi-club operations - the growth over the last 7 years has been exponential - just how UEFA/FIFA can put an end to this is difficult to imagine

https://twitter.com/CIESsportsintel/sta ... 2401718272

[Vegas Claret]

The latest count of clubs worldwide involved in multi-club operations - the growth over the last 7 years has been exponential - just how UEFA/FIFA can put an end to this is difficult to imagine

I don't think they realistically can, horse has bolted and galloped into the distance already!

[Chester Perry]

Have Barcelona found a new financial lever?

this story broke last week

Barcelona offered franchise option in Qatar that could bolster accounts
https://www.football-espana.net/2023/06 ... b-accounts

today is a suggestion of just how much of a bolster that could be

Barcelona offered eur100m per year by Qatari side as part of franchise proposal
https://www.football-espana.net/2023/06 ... e-proposal

here's hoping Javier Tebas finds a way to block it

[Chester Perry]

Most football fans would say that transfer deadline day is Friday September 1st 2023 - however, there is a more pressing one for many clubs who are concerned with FFP/P&S rules and that is their year end date, which, for many, falls tomorrow

‘Unofficial transfer deadline day’ has clubs scrambling to sell their players
Deals done before the deadline this Friday can be included in last season's financial accounts
https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fw ... -europe%2F

[Chester Perry]

Fascinating look at how Huddersfield Town were bought in 10 days by US businessman Kevin Nagel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTANmKHa2nE&t=189s

[Chester Perry]

the more that investigators look under the covers of the early years of the Abu Dhabi ownership of Manchester City the more they seem to find - thankfully for UEFA the Premier League don't have time bars on investigations - From The Times

I think the actual story of the payments is old, the UEFA report on it is new

Man City accused over £30m ‘sponsorship’ payments
New film accuses club, which faces 115 Premier League charges, of using mystery man from UAE to cover money that was supposed to have come from a sponsor
https://archive.is/Ueutv

This is the youtube film - it is overly dramatic and semi triumphant in its presentation which actually makes you question it
BRITAIN'S BIGGEST FOOTBALL SCANDAL?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlLRWw47HOk

[Chester Perry]

It has taken a while but the ECA have finally responded to these claims - when you understand how the ECA actually works this is rather unsatisfactory from Charlie Marshall

European Club Association is being cast as an evil elite killing football. What nonsense
La Liga’s Javier Tebas and Crystal Palace’s Steve Parish claim to be champions of ‘small clubs’ that are not small at all
https://www.theguardian.com/football/bl ... bas-parish
https://archive.is/ivmEJ

Javier Tebas with a response to the above in The Guardian -He is on the money with the central premise of thise opinion piece

European Club Association is orchestrating a silent football coup
Through its actions the ECA is intensifying the influence of Europe’s biggest clubs while disregarding the aspirational ones
https://www.theguardian.com/football/bl ... vier-tebas
https://archive.is/xV2JC

Sergei Palkin the CEO of Ukrainian club Shakhtar takes his turn on this subject of representation for European clubs - in the third opinion piece on the subject from the Guardian

Shakhtar’s outlook on European club governance could help bridge divide
The club’s CEO on why multiple representative bodies could be a positive and give clubs a choice on who runs European game
https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... dge-divide
https://archive.is/RMJkE

[Chester Perry]

Martin Cloake uses his The Football Fan blog to give an insight to the recent European Football Fans Congress in Manchester (which CT went to) - not the problems he cites with the way English clubs have tried to use an arms length/commercial approach to fan involvement, all of which we are seeing play out at our club, with the Fan Advisory Board (a Premier League initiative designed to prevent a future more appropriate Regulator directed initiative at the epicentre of it.

From the terraces to the boardroom
The recent European Football Fans Congress showed fans do have a voice, but the hard work is yet to come.
https://martincloake.substack.com/p/fro ... dium=email

[Colburn_Claret]

But how is this any different to Watford and Nottingham Forest? - we may not like it but the precedent has been established - barn door and all that

Better late than never.
The dangers of letting it go through don't bear thinking about.

If Newcastle want him, make them pay the transfer fee. It isn't rocket science that nobody pays that much for a player to loan him out immediately.

[Chester Perry]

the more that investigators look under the covers of the early years of the Abu Dhabi ownership of Manchester City the more they seem to find - thankfully for UEFA the Premier League don't have time bars on investigations - From The Times

I think the actual story of the payments is old, the UEFA report on it is new

Man City accused over £30m ‘sponsorship’ payments
New film accuses club, which faces 115 Premier League charges, of using mystery man from UAE to cover money that was supposed to have come from a sponsor
https://archive.is/Ueutv

This is the youtube film - it is overly dramatic and semi triumphant in its presentation which actually makes you question it
BRITAIN'S BIGGEST FOOTBALL SCANDAL?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlLRWw47HOk

Is it just because this is a quite period that The Times are running repeats on the various items that are covered by all those Premier League Charges against Manchester City - technically there are more than 115 as well - this time they are highlighting (again) the clever payment schemes to Mancini and Yaya Toure

Man City’s 115 Premier League charges explained
From Roberto Mancini’s ‘second job’ to Yaya Touré’s image rights – a look at the allegations the club are facing
https://archive.is/zqXCL

[Chester Perry]

Much more interesting from Martyn Zeigler's column in the Times is this story about how a little known rule relating to the consumer price index will be affecting the merit and equal payments for last season - I am intrigued by this as both Parachute and Solidarity payments are also based on the equal share calculation, has our club (and indeed all the EFL) benefitted from this?

Southampton get cash injection thanks to inflation
High CPI rate will benefit teams at bottom of Premier League because of rules governing distribution of TV money
https://archive.is/oHHEW

[bfcjg]

Just our luck that inflation was lower this time last year.

[Chester Perry]

The Athletic looking at how the combinations of Inflation and amortisation js impacting the way clubs are negotiating in the transfer window - with very different objectives being sought by buyers and sellers

Wrangling in Declan Rice deal highlights how inflation has changed transfers
https://archive.is/7rh67

[Chester Perry]

It was 20 years ago today...

That football properly changed, possibly forever, as Roman Abramovich changed what fans expectations and wishes of owners along with the level of issues many fans are prepared to overlook and effectively sell their collective soul just for the taste of success

Here The Athletic look back at the takeover of Chelsea on July 1st 2003

Roman Abramovich, Chelsea and a takeover that made every club want a ‘messiah’ owner
https://archive.is/9GpXV

[Chester Perry]

Following on from the above - here is Jonathan Wilson in the Guardian writing about what football clubs could/should/did represent

Football clubs were born to represent communities and fans, not owners
As multi-club ownership shows, the game, especially in England, has lost sight of the notion of football as a civic good
https://www.theguardian.com/football/bl ... ans-owners
https://archive.is/BnrCG

[Chester Perry]

Given the general perception of German football, few may imagine that it's clubs can get into the kinds of mess we see English ones do far to frequently. Here is an example of one - recently taken over - that sounds rather shambolic, and if the last paragraph is anything to go by, the new investors are not helping in any way. Which may be quite worrying for Everton, because there is growing expectation that 777 partners will be in charge there in the coming weeks - whatever the division the Toffees find themselves in next season

Hertha Berlin are done. The only question is how much worse it gets
https://www.theguardian.com/football/bl ... bundesliga
https://archive.is/kJRFb

The Vultures are at the door

we have only heard part of the general fiasco that 777 partners have appeared to create in their rampant march into football - this detailed investigative expose from Josimar highlights absolutely nothing that is good or positive about this or any other of their activities - yet they would still probably pass an owners and directors test, nost least because for a short while at least they make visible actual money

The 777 football mystery
Multiple club-owner 777 – a US private investors group – has a patchy record in honouring its financial commitments and is the subject of several court actions in the USA. So who are they, and where does the money come from?
https://josimarfootball.com/2023/07/03/ ... l-mystery/
https://archive.is/QGO9Q

[Vegas Claret]

Granted it's very one sided but here is the documentary about Man City that people are talking about
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlLRWw47HOk

[Chester Perry]

It is always interesting to see how different leagues mange their Financial rules - we have heard plenty about La Liga - courtesy of the shenanigans at Barcelona (and indeed both Atletico and Real Madrid), many may have forgotten that the French can be equally as demanding

JOHN TEXTOR HAS 14 DAYS TO FIND €60M FOR LYON OR FACE PUNISHMENT FROM THE DNCG
https://archive.is/73kcN

Seems that John Textor has failed to convince the DNCG that they have the assets to cover their budget (hardly a surprise given the attempt to move share ownership from other regular loss making clubs into the the OL Group - a move that may not please the other shareholders in Crystal Palace

LYON’S TRANSFER ACTIVITY AND WAGE BILL TO BE MONITORED BY DNCG
https://www.getfootballnewsfrance.com/2 ... d-by-dncg/

[Chester Perry]

Granted it's very one sided but here is the documentary about Man City that people are talking about
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlLRWw47HOk

It is up this page (last Thursday evening) along with the associated article in The Times - it is so badly presented I couldn't watch it for more than a few minutes

[elwaclaret]

Following on from the above - here is Jonathan Wilson in the Guardian writing about what football clubs could/should/did represent

Football clubs were born to represent communities and fans, not owners
As multi-club ownership shows, the game, especially in England, has lost sight of the notion of football as a civic good
https://www.theguardian.com/football/bl ... ans-owners
https://archive.is/BnrCG

I get the point, and I wish it had not gone this way from Premier on, but if Pace is trying to do a Man City… they’ve made a massive impact on lifting the whole area in the process, whatever their faults.


He also gets his Blackburn football history wrong… Blackburn Rovers moved to Darwen because they were a Grammar School team… they were in the first recorded football violence… with Blackburn Olympic… Blackburn’s working class team renting a pubs field in the centre of town. Rovers were definitely NOT welcomed in Blackburn. Sorry, my field.

[Vegas Claret]

It is up this page (last Thursday evening) along with the associated article in The Times - it is so badly presented I couldn't watch it for more than a few minutes

I didn't think you would miss it !! Made me laugh how the clown from La Liga is on it There's clearly no smoke without fire and all that but I agree it was a pretty poorly executed documentary. It will be interesting to see what the PL do with them, City are very powerful and bring in lots of exposure to the PL and with the Saudi's just taking the pi$$ I'd be surprised if they kick City out of the league

[Chester Perry]

I get the point, and I wish it had not gone this way from Premier on, but if Pace is trying to do a Man City… they’ve made a massive impact on lifting the whole area in the process, whatever their faults.


He also gets his Blackburn football history wrong… Blackburn Rovers moved to Darwen because they were a Grammar School team… they were in the first recorded football violence… with Blackburn Olympic… Blackburn’s working class team renting a pubs field in the centre of town. Rovers were definitely NOT welcomed in Blackburn. Sorry, my field.

Just look at the way Abu Dhabi have had the City of Manchester bend over for them in favourable deals (and help with bypassing legal issues everyone else is subject to - time after time - those deals will see profits extracted from the city for decades to come with little or no tax gain to come to the public purse, this is why the Gulf states are known as 'rentier' states, the make/produce noting but oil or gas and hope to survive going forwards from investment returns.

Have they really lifted the area? have they generated vibrant sustainable communities or rent ghettos? the team is successful but what they have been allowed to do with the Co-op Live arena seems pretty scandalous. There are plenty of 'investments' that do nothing for the good of the city.

[Chester Perry]

I mentioned this was in the offing in a different thread yesterday

Premier League closes on deal to buy FA Cup’s international media rights
League could control of competition’s scheduling
Infront was preferred bidder before FA opted to retender
https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... dia-rights
https://archive.is/Mzcsk

[Chester Perry]

I mentioned this was in the offing in a different thread yesterday

Premier League closes on deal to buy FA Cup’s international media rights
League could control of competition’s scheduling
Infront was preferred bidder before FA opted to retender
https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... dia-rights
https://archive.is/Mzcsk

it seems to be causing a bit of a stink - though if half of what Matt Hughes is reporting is true then that would be understandable

The FA Cup faces a radical shake-up - that'll see replays and the stand-alone final weekend axed - as the FA prepare to cede control of the tournament to the Premier League
A radical shake-up to the FA Cup from the 2024-25 season is being planned
The FA are preparing to hand control of the competition to the Premier League
This would then give top-flight clubs control of the entire domestic calendar
https://archive.is/JsTFS

The Times has a less alarmingly styled report that still suggests that the Premier League would be taking control of the competition

FA warned not to sell cup TV rights to Premier League
Fears that move would hand top flight even more power over fixture list
https://archive.is/h2dJ8

[Chester Perry]

The ECA is getting very territorial - currently only it is recognised by UEFA/FIFA as a the body that represents clubs - though only a small proportion of European clubs are members and a significant proportion of those do not have voting rights. It is clever/insidious of them to lump membership of A22 (Super League) alongside the Union of European Clubs and insinuate that UEFA are opposed to them equally - from the Telegraph

ECA ban members from joining breakaway union risking European-wide club row
Exclusive: The European Club Association is the strongest lobbying voice when it comes to change at Uefa
https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fw ... a-clubs%2F

[Chester Perry]

This is a sign of the times re multi-club ownership - such decisions and changes are not always going to be possible

Uefa rules Brighton, Aston Villa and AC Milan can take part in European competitions
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66136803

[Chester Perry]

Jonathan Wilson for the Guardian with an intriguing piece about a potential split in football at the highest levels - remember how I have been posting about Multi-polarity - this would be such an instance if it were ever to happen

Does football need Fifa? Breakaway threat may test Infantino’s grip on global game
Leader of the game’s world governing body would be forced to rethink chasing votes and cash if Uefa and Conmebol unite
https://www.theguardian.com/football/bl ... a-conmebol
https://archive.is/Jnshl

[Chester Perry]

this report is actually a week old now - but an interesting piece on the Multi-club plague by Rory Smith - Which features a new South American owned and based operation, which is definitely designed to be a farm to sell players on - ideally to Europe - with the model clearly prepped and proven at the groups first club over the last 15 years

Soccer’s Next Big Thing Is Buying in Bulk
Networks of clubs help top teams streamline their scouting, methods and player acquisition. But who do they really serve?
https://archive.is/h953n

[Chester Perry]

Article from the Athletic on the last hurrah of gambling front of Shirt sponsorships in the Premier League - intriguing that both Sheffield United and Luton are trying hard to avoid such sponsorships

Premier League clubs struggle to resist one last payday from gambling firms
https://archive.is/ba5Hc

[Chester Perry]

Andrea Agnelli and Aleksander Ceferin were once very close friends (so close Ceferin is the Godfather of Agnelli's youngest daughter - while on reflection this relationship looks like old school Italian rich family political manoeuvring (Machiavelli was just kindergarten training is the impression you get). So are we now about to see a classic revenge drama of renaissance proportions too?

Andrea Agnelli could face Uefa legal action over Super League and Juventus scandal
https://archive.is/dWKFL

It is always good to see Andrea Agnelli get his comeuppance

The Athletic with news he has been given an additional suspension this time for the lies (fraud?) he committed over salary payments during covid

Former Juventus president Andrea Agnelli handed 16-month ban and fined over salary manoeuvres
https://archive.is/8ptCX

[Chester Perry]

Famously Barcelona call deals where they essentially take a 'cash advance' for a proportion future revenues over a defined period as 'Financial Levers' - They are not the only ones in Spain to play such games - Real Madrid started doing it in 2017.

The closest our club has come to such practises is factoring - which we are involved in again, this time with Macquarie, but have done previously under the chairmanships of Barry Kilby, Mike Garlick and John Banaszkiewicz and separately under Mike Garlick.

Factoring of course is for a fixed sum (not percentage) and is legally a credit agreement with 'charges' registered at Companies House. The agreements undertaken by Barcelona and Real Madrid appear to bear strong resemblance to 'Credit Agreements but the clubs are at pains to make claim that they are not, as their are UEFA financial compliance issues, though them being credit agreements would provide upside tax implications.

Here. The Telegraph focuses on one such agreement that Real Madrid have with US Private Equity Fund (yes the vultures are at the door) Providence and the clubs apparent refusal to explain which EUR 122m of monies in the last accounts has disappeared too.

Real Madrid face questions over unexplained costs of €122m
Exclusive: Real have reassured its members it is in a strong financial position, but it has only stayed marginally in profit in recent years
https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fw ... million%2F

you may remember that Real Madrid and Barcelona refused to be part of La Liga's deal with CVC arguing that the deal was not advantageous to them. Certainly both clubs have raised much more in similar deals struck on their own.

the above article has a Q & A section on Real Madrid's finaces that can be found here

Real Madrid finances — Q&A
https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fw ... million%2F

[Chester Perry]

Miguel Delaney looks at the row between UEFA, ECA and UEC, with UEFA insistence that clubs outside the ECA are represented by the European Leagues (of which the ECA clubs are also members)

There is an interesting little detail in this - Burnley FC is still an associate member of the ECA (no voting rights) thanks to our European sojourn in 2018 (one that still leaves the club ranked No 77 in Europe according to UEFA

The secret ‘war’ behind European football
Uefa are having football ‘kidnapped and hijacked’ from them in an ‘unnecessary war’ between competing representative club bodies, it is claimed
https://archive.is/ExT40

that UEFA ranking for Burnley FC

https://www.uefa.com/nationalassociatio ... /#/yr/2023

Burnley FC UEFA club ranking.JPG (158.66 KiB) Viewed 5302 times

[Chester Perry]

Season Ticket (and Matchday Ticket) prices have been rising all across the game - in the Premier League Burnley are still on the bottom rung when it comes to actual prices - but as we enter a third such season of price rises (which are getting bigger) we are far from the bottom in that particular league - The Athletic takes a look at Premier League Season Ticket prices

Premier League season ticket survey: 17 clubs raise prices for 2023-24
https://archive.is/0SNlL

It is a debate that has failed to garner much sympathy on this forum - Jonathan Liew for the Guardian on the the ever increase price of tickets

Spiralling costs tear through notion of sport as a communal force for good
As tickets become increasingly unaffordable, the experience of attending sport now seems to be reserved for a select few
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/ ... e-for-good
https://archive.is/UDpo4

[GodIsADeeJay81]

https://www.expressandstar.com/sport/fo ... ment-loan/

This is a bit odd, surprised the gov went with it.

[Chester Perry]

https://www.expressandstar.com/sport/fo ... ment-loan/

This is a bit odd, surprised the gov went with it.

The interesting thing about that - besides the requirement for £99m of cashflow funding (which is over 50% of annual revenue (and very cheap to borrow) is that it is Fosun who have provided the security. Wolves are far more developed in the esports arena with a Chinese based/targeted team

we still do not know for certain the security (and indeed the source) of that £39.7m refinancing of the MSD loan in November 2022

[Paul Waine]

The interesting thing about that - besides the requirement for £99m of cashflow funding (which is over 50% of annual revenue (and very cheap to borrow) is that it is Fosun who have provided the security. Wolves are far more developed in the esports arena with a Chinese based/targeted team

we still do not know for certain the security (and indeed the source) of that £39.7m refinancing of the MSD loan in November 2022

Hi CP, what we do know about the £39.7m loan - which was used to repay the remaining balance of the MSD loan - is that it has much lower interest rate than the MSD loan (particularly, given where rates have gone since Nov22) and no security charge has been filed with Companies House, so the club hasn't provided any security for this £39.7m loan. (I guess it's possible someone else has provided a guarantee, but, if so, I can't see how this escaped disclosing in the club's accounts).

Since gaining promotion the club has obtained a financing facility with Macquarie which is secured against Premier League revenues.

Very interesting that Wolves have obtained UK Export Finance facility (UK Export Finance is the operating name of the Export Credit Guarantee Department). If ECGD finance is available to Wolves it may be available to all Premier League football clubs. I'd expect Alan Pace to be able to show that BFC is exporting to US and everywhere else that the overseas Premier League tv monies come from.

UTC