"If you want some accessible but informative insight into football then I suggest you couldn't do better than the Political Economy of Football website, which is not only intelligible but comes with the added bonus of being written by Addicks fan Wyn Grant."
Ben Hayes - Charlton Athletic programme
The Chinese Dai family that are behind a proposed takeover of Reading were previously subject to a Premier League investigation that raised ‘red flags’ about their commercial background. This happened when they made an earlier bid for Hull City.
Their most high profile investment is based on transforming unused air raid shleters in China into shopping malls. They have to be vacated if war ever breaks out. This raises the bizarre spectacle of people sheltering amid displays of luxury western goods.
Premier League clubs have made a combined loss for the first time in three years. Clubs in the Premier League posted combined revenues of £3.6bn for the 2015-16 season, a 9 per cent rise from the previous year, according to Deloitte.
However, spending on players has outpaced revenue growth. Wages increased 12 per cent to £2,3bn which along with other costs, such as splashing out on transfer fees, helped to push clubs into a combined pre-tax loss of £110m.
In 2010 Portsmouth FC were £30m in debt and in danger of going out of business. Today they are free of debt and back in League One. It hasn’t been easy and this blog summarises the story.
Clubs without such a large and loyal fan base might find the journey back even harder.
This weekend’s game between AC Milan and Inter Milan was billed as the ‘Chinese derby’ with both clubs now having Chinese owners. The lunchtime kick off was ideal for the Chinese market.
Inter’s majority owner is a Chinese retailer with revenues in excess of £15bn.. The group has experience in football. owning Jiangsu Sining, runners up in the Chinese Super League last season.
The fall in the value of the pound after the Brexit referendum has hit the Premier League hard. A pre-tax loss of £312m is expected to be announced this week.
For many years the TV contracts that have fuelled the league’s boom have been paid in sterling, dollars and euros with the company paying the league clubs in sterling and using derivatives to manage the exchange rate risk. However, the accounting rules for reporting derivatives have changed.
The acquisition of a 75 per cent stake in Reading by Chinese duo Dai Yongge and Dai Xiu Li appears to be closer. They were involved in an unsuccessful bid for Hull City. This week Lady Sasima Srivikorn, part of the Thai consortium that owns the club, said that running the club had become ‘too costly’.
This was met with scorn by some Reading fans, given that majority shareholding Narin Niruttinanon has a bank balance of over £400m.
Chinese investors are interested in Brentford. The club recently reported losses of £7.5m and there are question marks about how long owner and fan Matthew Benham can carry on pumping in £15m a year.
The International Investor Group already has a 80 per cent stake in Ligue 1 Nice. A key figure in the group is Chien Lee, chief executive officer of NewCity Capital, a private investment company that focuses on the hospitality industry.
It is now looking increasingly unlikely that Arsenal will qualify for the Champions League. This could lead to a drop in income of £30m and mean that Arsenal make a financial loss for the first time since they moved to the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal would stand to earn about £17m from the Europa League instead of £45m from the Champions League. They have made profits of less than £20m in four of the last five years and the loss of Champions League money could tip the balance.
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