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Articles and reports on financial issues within football – soccer – from The Political Economy of Football.
How does one market a club like Monaco, newly promoted to France’s Ligue 1? Given the size of the principality, it’s difficult to generate big crowds. With a population of just over 36,000, Monaco is the second smallest country in the world and the smallest with a coastline. Only Vatican City is smaller.
How much is winning the Championship play off final worth? Estimates vary between £120m and £135m. Crystal Palace can certainly expect to earn a minimum of £60m from the Premier League’s new television deal.
Palace have come in or out of the Premier League eight times since its formation in 1992, so should they be relegated they will receive £60m over four years in relegation parachute payments.
That makes £120m and what is imponderable is how much a club can generate in merchandise sales, improved attendances and match day revenues. That could be anywhere between £5m and £15m.
The future of Bury FC looks secure after a takeover of the club was completed this afternoon. The Shakers have announced paperwork is formally complete and the takeover sees the current chairman Brian Fenton and board of directors resign with immediate effect to make way for new board members to be appointed in the coming days.
Manchester United have cut their interest bill by £10m a year after a major refinancing through Bank of America. The refinancing deal on £177.78m of sterling bonds and some $17m of dollar bonds means that interest rates on the loans of between 8.75 per cent and 8.375 per cent will be replaced by a variable rate. Analysts expect interest rates to remain low for some years to come.
In the latest piece of evidence of a continuing trend towards globalisation in football, Manchester City are to acquire a majority share in a Major League Soccer franchise with the New York Yankees baseball team. There is thus ‘crossover’ both in sports and countries.
City will have a team called New York City FC playing in MLS from the 2015-16 season, with the Yankees, a top global sporting brand, holding a 25 per cent stake. The new club could play in the same sky blue colours as City.
Arsenal fans certainly thought so yesterday, even though it was another season without a trophy. They had qualified for the Champions League again at the expense of their North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur. Moreover, one cannot claim that their league position was a shock: they have finished 3rd or 4th every year since 2005.
It’s not easy running a football club in an economically challenged small northern town near a bigger city. Stockport County are now playing in the Conference North, having at one time been in what is now the Championship. Bury also played at that level, but have faced serious financial problems.
It’s been a good year for Welsh football. Swansea City won the League Cup and established themselves as a force to be reckoned with in the Premiership where they will be joined next season by Cardiff City.
But in many ways the most remarkable story has been that of Newport County, albeit their promotion out of the Conference was achieved at the expense of another Welsh club, fan-run Wrexham. They are back in the Football League after a quarter of a century away.
Paul Appleton, the administrator of Coventry City, is insisting that the Sky Blues are available for sale from today and that this includes the golden share which enables the club to play in the Football League.
The economic crisis has hit Greek football hard. Austerity has reduced the disposable income of fans, often drastically, and businesses have also been in difficulty. AEK Athens has become a major casualty of the Eurozone crisis.
They are preparing to declare bankruptcy and seek relegation to the third division. AEK were relegated from the Super League for the first time in their 89-year history in the season just ended. They are in serious financial difficulties and reported to owe 170 million euros in taxes. Angela Merkel, herself a football fan, will be pleased to hear that.