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Articles and reports on financial issues within football – soccer – from The Political Economy of Football.
Following the success of the Asia Trophy involving Premier League clubs, Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore has revived the idea of a round of fixtures to be played abroad.
Richard Scudamore first advanced the idea in 2008, but it was dropped after a tidal wave of opposition from fans. However, he thinks that there is now an increasing recognition from fans that the Premier League and its clubs are a global success story.
Paul Tomkins has taken a fascinating look at how football transfer fees in the past look like when they are expressed in 2017 prices. Inflation has just about doubled since the formation of the Premier League in 1992 but the cost of a top rank footballer has gone up about twenty times.
Everton’s age of austerity is over. They were last among the big spenders in the late 1980s. However, under new owner Farhad Moshiri they are targeting a top six finish and have splashed out £85m in the summer transfer window.
They have organised a £60m credit facility from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.
The 26th Deloitte annual review of football finance reports that driven by continued growth in broadcast rights values in European football’s biggest leagues, and the impact of UEFA Euro 2016, total European football market revenues reached almost €25 billion in 2015/16, a 13% increase on 2014/15.
The ‘big five’ European leagues grew collective revenues by €1.4 billion (12%) in 2015/16, 59% of which was due to increased broadcast revenues, and 31% due to increased sponsorship and other commercial revenues.
Vysyble has released the 2nd edition of its football finance report entitled ‘We’re So Rich It’s Unbelievable! – The Illusion of Wealth Within Football.’ The report covers the economic performance of the participant clubs in the English Premier League from 2008-9 to 2015-16 (the latest accounting period) ie 34 clubs. Over 260 individual club balance sheets were analysed as part of the research process.
Barcelona are to pay Lionel Messi a basic wage worth more than £1m a week. Messi’s gross salary under a four year contract has been set at an annual €60m (£54.8m). If the contract runs for its full term Barca are committed to paying him £220m before performance bonuses.
Barcelona had total revenues of €620.2m (£548.6m at current exchange rates) in 2016, the second highest figure in football after Manchester United. Last season the club budgeted for €695m of income and, according to its own analysis, Messi contributed 20 per cent of that figure.
Tottenham Hotspur have denied speculation about a takeover of the club. In a statement on its website the club said, ‘ The Club engaged Rothschild to secure the funding for the new stadium. As expected many proposals came forward including bank debt and equity investment. The Club announced on 31 May 2017 the completion of the bank debt financing for the new stadium with a consortium of banks involving Bank of America Merrill Lynch International Limited, Goldman Sachs Bank USA and HSBC Bank plc.
Reports of the High Court hearing involving Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley have largely focused on the drinking sessions associated with business meetings. However, one piece of information that slipped out was about a confidential mobile phone company used by footballers and club owners like Mike Ashley.
Shropshire-based Sports Mobile offer bespoke VIP service. Players want the new iPhone as soon as it comes out and they make sure that players get it before everyone else.
The Supreme Court yesterday ruled in favour of HM Revenue and Customs in a long-running dispute over offshore trusts used by Rangers Football Club. Five judges unanimously dismissed an appeal by the liquidators of RC 2012, the company formerly known as Rangers Football Club before its financial collapse in 2012.
The frantic transfer deadline with all its hype and television coverage is at the end of August. First, however, there is a ‘quiet’ transfer deadline when managers look at the squads that have reassembled for training at the beginning of July and assess the gaps.
Of course, some clubs like Chelsea and Manchester United like to do their business early. United are hopeful that they will get most of their targets soon, but Chelsea are only now nearing a breakthrough or two.