Man City owners target French club for CFG’s growing portfolio
July 15 – City Football Group (CFG), owners of Manchester City, look to have upped their quest to take a stake in French club.
Finance
MLS discusses private equity options for clubs to help cover pandemic losses
July 13 – Major League Soccer is opening the doors wider for private equity financing to participate in club ownership groups for the first time, according to MLS Commissioner Don Garber.
ECA counts the Covid cost to clubs at €4bn
July 10 – European clubs expect to lose a staggering €4 billion in revenue over the next year because of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a study by the European Club Association.
Post-Covid: Pandemic forces rethink of stadium revenues and facility planning
By Paul Nicholson
July 10 – The coronavirus pandemic looks likely to bring some fundamental long term changes to how fans watch live football and the confidence they have to return to stadia. Those changes will impact on stadium operations but also on what the live experience delivers beyond the game on the pitch.
Wigan future brightens as 50 suitors express takeover interest
July 8 – There have been over 50 inquiries about buying Wigan Athletic FC – including from the town’s rugby league side Wigan Warriors – after the English Championship club were plunged into administration when its Hong Kong owner pulled the plug on further funding, according to the joint administrators.
EFL’s fit and proper tested: The miserable financial road for Wigan and its peers
By Andrew Warshaw
July 7 – Wigan Athletic’s official supporters’ club have demanded a “full investigation” into how the second-tier Championship club became the first professional outfit in English football to be plunged into administration during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Transfer value: Stats argue keeping Sancho, Mbappé and Messi will boost their sale price
July 7 – With predictions that the transfer market is going to take a big hit as the football business tiptoes its way through the commercial implications pandemic, new player transfer value analysis looks at what a contract extension would do for their sale value.
FFP under the gavel: Man City to get ‘£200m’ CAS ruling July 13
July 3 – Manchester City are set to learn their European fate on July 13 in a ruling that will have major consequences for both the club and UEFA’s entire financial fair play strategy.
Magic circle: UEFA pulls out the €775m HatTrick rabbit
July 2 – UEFA has kicked off the fifth cycle of its HatTrick programme with a commitment to invest €775.5 million in the development of the game over the next four years.
Covid collapse: Wigan left needing life support after new Hong Kong owners bug out
By Andrew Warshaw
July 2 – In a move that has shocked neutral fans across the country, Wigan Athletic of the second-tier Championship have become the first professional English club to fall into administration as a result of Covid-19.
Sané deal will boost City’s bottom-line, but may signal depressed summer market
By David Owen
July 1 – One of the more salient details of Leroy Sané’s big money move to Bayern Munich may turn out to be the date on which news of the deal broke: June 30 – the last day of selling club Manchester City’s financial year.
Coronavirus exacts heavy toll as FIFA projects 2020 revenues down by almost 50%
By David Owen
June 30 – FIFA is now budgeting for this year’s revenues to come in at little more than half of its original projections, as a consequence of coronavirus.
The FA cuts jobs as losses hit £300m, Wembley events cancelled and sponsors rebated
June 30 – Staff at the English FA have been left shocked by the announcement of more than 100 job losses due to the “significant impact” of coronavirus.
New Liverpool kit brand Nike posts $790m loss for three months to end-May
By David Owen
June 30 – Sports footwear and apparel giant Nike swung heavily into loss in its March-to-May 2020 quarter, reflecting the impact of Covid-19.
FIFA flags $280m loss for 2019 and will raid reserves to fund $1.5bn Covid relief plan
By David Owen
June 26 – FIFA will raid its well-stocked reserves to finance a COVID-19 relief plan that will make up to $1.5 billion available to the wider “football community”.