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Articles and reports on financial issues within football – soccer – from The Political Economy of Football.
A consortium of wealthy supporters is ready to rival a German bid for Sunderland. It is believed that there is a big gap between owner Ellis Short’s valuation of the club and its crippling debt and what the German consortium is prepared to offer.
Mike Ashley is considering an offer from a Chinese consortium to invest in Newcastle United. A stake rather than a full takeover seems to be on the table, but a minority investment could lead to a complete takeover in time.
Ashley values his stake at £350m -£400m which has so far deterred potential buyers, but the Chinese appetite for a slice of Premiership action is strong. A substantial investment would help Newcastle to recruit top players.
A winding up petition against Leyton Orient has been dismissed at the High Court after the four creditors on the petiition were paid in full. However, it is believed tbat there are other creditors who were not on the petition. The total amount paid is thought to be around £250,000.
Fans packed the courtroom and others waited outside.
Sunderland are engaged in takeover talks with a German consortium that has a longstanding interest in English football. The £110 million price tag on the club asked for by owner Ellis Short does not appear to have deterred them.
Sunderland are being advised by Dr Keith Harris who has advised on the purchase of many clubs including Chelsea, Manchester City and Everton.
Overseas broadcasting fees have become increasingly important in the Premier League’s revenue stream. An estimated £3bn of the £8.3bn broadcasting pot now comes from this source.
The pressure on Katrien Liebherr to sell Southampton could increase as a result of an investigation by the German tax authorities. The public prosecutor’s office is investigating the tax liability of her late father, Markus Liebherr.
According to a Financial Times analysis, the amount of money in the Premier League has increased its competitiveness, to the point that the top clubs have to devote so much energy to the domestic campaign they are too drained to take on Europe’s leading clubs.
Champions Chelsea have earned nearly £151m in television fees and prize money. Chelsea received almost £58m more than Leicester City did for winning the title last season.
Chelsea’s prize money for coming top was £38.8m, while ‘facility fees’ for being shown live on television in 28 of their 38 league games brought in another £32.8m. An equal share of TV deals, domestically and overseas, plus commercial income contributed about £79.2m.
Leading football journalist David Conn has provided an analysis of the accounts of Premier League clubs for 2015-16. Manchester United come out top with revenues of £515m and a profit of £49m.
The two years extension to Arsene Wenger’s contract has received a rather unenthusiastic response from the club’s fans and Conn suggests that any under performance is within Wenger’s football operation. Football journalists in general seem to be rather critical of Wenger.
The combined worth of European football’s leading clubs grew by about €3bn over the past year, boosted by the escalating value of broadcasting deals. According to KPMG, the combined enterprise value of Europe’s 32 richest sides was close to €30bn in 2016, a rise of 14 per cent from the previous year.
The list is dominated by Premier League clubs and is topped by Manchester United, which became the first club to be valued at more than €3bn. Six other English clubs are among the 10 most valuable in Europe.