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Articles and reports on financial issues within football – soccer – from The Political Economy of Football.
When the takeover of Crystal Palace is completed as expected by the end of the season, it will become the fifth American owned club in the Premier League. At £90 million the price is higher, even allowing for inflation, than the £62m Randy Lerner paid for Aston Villa in 2006 or the £22m Ellis Short paid for Sunderland in 2009.
Newcastle United are the latest Premier League club to report a profit for the 2012-13 season, £18.7m up from £9,9m in the previous financial year. This is the fourth consecutive year in which the club has made a profit.
As far as fans are concerned, this profit has not been reflected on the pitch with a thin squad and insufficient acquistions of new players. The club is £129m in debt to owner Mike Ashley.
Mail Online have produced a very useful summary guide to the financial health of Premiership clubs. In the days before the advent of the internet we would have called it a ‘cut out and keep guide’.
A good season on the pitch for Southampton FC has been matched by a good set of financial results for 2013-14. Southampton have more than exceeded the expectations of the pundits, some of whom were forecasting relegation at the beginning of the season.
This blog article takes a look at the links between football and organised crime, arguing that it offers opportunities for money laundering. The need of clubs for large sums of money can lead to them being drawn into relationships with dubious individuals.
In many ways Major League Soccer in the United States is doing well. It hopes to expand from 20 to 24 franchises by 2020. It is appealing to so-called ‘millenials’ in the 18-32 year old age group who grew up playing soccer and watching the Premier League on television.
Premier League clubs have made their first collective profit for 15 years. Dan Jones, a partner at Deloitte’s authoritative Sports Business Group, hailed the news as a ‘transformative moment’. It showed that the Premier League could keep a grip on costs while still attracting top players. He commented, ‘You can still afford to compete on talent and still have money left at the bottom line.’
What happens to Rangers is key to the financial salvation of Scottish football argue insolvency experts Begbies Traynor in their latest report on the state of the game. A five per cent decline in attendances can largely be attributed to the boycott of Rangers.
Despite the disappointment of losing at Wembley, Walsall stand to make a substantial financial gain from their participation in the final of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.
Often derided as the paint drying trophy, they will make £500,000 from their share of the receipts, plus £69,000 in prize money. Then one can add on revenue from earlier rounds, merchandise sales and television money.
The new directors at Rangers have made loans of £1.5m to the club to keep it afloat while they seek longer-term finance. This means that they will not have to take the second tranche of a loan of £10m from Mike Ashley which would enable him to appoint directors to the board.