By Paul Nicholson
April 25 – Multi-club ownership has gained an increased profile with City Football Group’s (CFG) recent addition of Atlético Torque (Uruguay) to their portfolio, while Atlético de Madrid have invested in Atlético San Luis (Mexico) and AS Monaco have agreed to acquire Cercle Brugge KSV (Belgium). But is it the pathway to financial profit?
April 20 – The new Premier League TV deal came in the nick of time for the English top division’s 20 clubs, which have run up an aggregate loss in 2015-16 after two seasons of impressive profits.
By Paul Nicholson
April 19 – The news that Lander Sports had pulled out of the £210 million+ acquisition of Premier League Southampton was premature. Even if Lander fail to raise the cash to complete the sale, a second, as yet unnamed, bidder from China is waiting in the wings and has the money ready to proceed.
April 18 – New owner, a new stadium and a new stock market listing. AC Milan has completed one of the three with the new owners promising that the other two are on the cards.
By Paul Nicholson
April 18 – China’s march into European club ownership looks to have been halted with the announcement by Lander Sports that it is shelving plans to buy Premier League Southampton.
By David Owen
April 17 – Newcastle United, the Tyneside club close to sealing an immediate return to the Premier League under big-name Spanish manager Rafa Benítez, have reported a sharp downturn in profits for their relegation season. Pre-tax profit plunged to £4.2 million for the year to 30 June 2016, against £36.2 million, the second-highest in the league, in 2014-15.
By Paul Nicholson
April 13 – Silvio Berlusconi has completed his long running sale of Serie A giants AC Milan to Chinese-owned Rossoneri Sport Luxembourg for €740 million.
By Paul Nicholson
April 13 – The last eight teams in the Champions League quarter finals show a disparity of income that would indicate the 2017 winners will almost inevitable be one of Real Madrid, Barcelona or Bayern Munich. But with Juventus taking a three goal lead into their second leg at Barcelona and Real Madrid or Bayern destined to knock one or the other out, the comparative have-nots might still have their day.
By Paul Nicholson
April 13 – Manchester United pay their players on average 281 times more than their fans earn, the third highest differential in Europe, only beaten by Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid who pay their players 350 times what the average fan earns.
By David Owen
April 10 – FIFA, the world governing body currently exposed to investigations by the United States Department of Justice and Switzerland’s Office of the Attorney General, is budgeting for a deficit of close to half a billion dollars this year before a sharp rebound in the World Cup year of 2018.
By Paul Nicholson
April 7 – While the €1 million solidarity payment to each national federation made headlines at the UEFA Congress this week, the real financial story is the €847 million profit the confederation made on its expanded 2016 European Championships, a €500 million increase on the 2012 edition in Poland and Ukraine. The tournament generated a massive €1.92 billion in total revenue.
April 5 – American owners of Premier League clubs don’t always have a happy time and are often conspicuous by their absence, especially when the going gets tough. But Swansea City’s majority owners Steve Kaplan and Jason Levien fronted up to a supporters forum yesterday taking their share of the blame and a heap of criticism.
April 5 – Manchester City owner City Football Group (CFG) has taken control of a fifth club, Uruguay’s second division Club Atletico Torque. CFG also owns New York City FC in the US, Melbourne City in Australia, and a controlling position in Japan’s Yokohama F Marinos.
April 4 – Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur are competing for more than just the Premier League title. They both want to use Wembley Stadium while their own grounds are being redeveloped.
April 3 – Bundesliga club Hertha Berlin are planning a move away from the Olympiastadion where they have played since 1963, to a new 55,000 seat arena that would ideally be situated right next door to its current stadium.