Football's Magic Money Tree

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Chester Perry
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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Wed Dec 28, 2022 12:26 am

Meanwhile the Athletic (courtesy of Philip Buckingham and Matt Slater) are reporting this (from 10 days ago) about FIFA

Fifa: What does it actually do?
https://archive.vn/VcezV
This user liked this post: HandforthClaret

Chester Perry
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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Wed Dec 28, 2022 12:48 am

I have been against the idea of Multi-Club ownership since I first came across it - this piece in Josimar from November this year is a really good account of some of my issues with it. I completely get the business sense in the model but the romantic in me finds it abhorrent in football

https://josimarfootball.com/corporate-f ... iful-game/

Corporate football: The reality of the beautiful game?

Multi club-ownership (MCO) might make sense as a corporate strategy for Middle Eastern sportswashers or private equity raiders but for just about everyone else, the concept of gobbling up football clubs into one amorphous group does not.

By Steve Menary

The Dutch fans at NAC Breda managed to rebuff the attentions of the Abu Dhabi owned City Football Group, but 22 percent of Portuguese side Braga is now held by Paris Saint-Germain’s Qatari owners and the US group Global Football Holdings has taken a majority stake in Brøndby IF, prompting Danish fan group Alpha to stop chanting and producing tifos until the winter break in protest.

Niamh O’Mahony, chief operating officer and head of governance at Football Supporters Europe, says: “We are still looking at why multi club ownership makes sense. No-one has been able to explain why. There are some good owners and they tend to respect the heritage of the clubs but there’s an awful lot where we don’t know their motivations.”

MCOs balloon
The number of clubs caught up in cross ownership has ballooned in the last five years. In 2017, UEFA’s research found 26 top-flight clubs across Europe involved in cross-ownership. By February 2021, UEFA had identified 90 European clubs caught in the MCO web but this is a global phenomenon.

Research by Josimar has found 227 clubs around the world whose owners also owned, controlled or had a significant stake in other football clubs.

With a takeover of French Ligue 1 side Olympique Lyonnais by US investor John Textor imminent, that number will swell further, and there will be more clubs whose owners own or control other teams and have been able to disguise their identities.

Josimar’s research found that the ownership or stakes in those 227 clubs identified as involved in MCOs is held by 83 different individuals or groups.

The largest, and most well-known is City Football Group (CFG), which owns or has stakes in 11 clubs from English Premier League side Manchester City to Melbourne City in Australia and a stake in Japanese club Yokohama F Marinos but failed to capture NAC Breda after fans rebelled.

Other MCO groups expanding rapidly include David Blitzer’s myriad portfolio, which owns or has stakes through vehicles such as GFH or Bolt in eight football clubs from Brøndby to Crystal Palace in England and Germany’s Augsburg. Pacific Media controls seven teams, while the rapidly expanding private investment group 777 Partners has stakes in six clubs as does Mexican outfit, Grupo Pachua.

Middle Eastern playground
English giants Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool have all been linked with plans to join the rush to hoover up a network of clubs, although this was before the Merseyside club were put up for sale. The scramble for ownership or control of clubs, particularly in Europe, has been led primarily by investors from the Middle East and the United States of America.

Middle Eastern MCO interests range from the Abu Dhabi controlled City Football Group to the Qatari ownership of French giants Paris Saint-Germain and three other European clubs and the Bahraini investment group Infinity Capital, which owns Cordoba in Spain and a stake in Paris FC.

The Saudi Arabian takeover of Newcastle United is expected to be the start of a sporting empire. That has yet to materialise, but the United World Group controlled by Saudi Prince Abdullah bin Mosaad bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud owns five clubs, while another Saudi businessman, Turki Al-Sheikh, owns La Liga side UD Almeria and is president of Sudanese club Al-Hilal.

US investors or private equity groups buying up clubs or stakes including 777 Partners, Amber Capital, Arctos, Sports Partners, Global Football Holdings, Textor, Pacific Media and Redbird Capital.

Middle Eastern investment in European football is often ascribed to sportswashing, but the involvement of US investors has been harder to pin down, but the unregulated nature of entering the European football industry is likely to be one.

European sport does not have the same level of collective bargaining agreements that are found in North American sport and clubs are relatively cheap compared to American sports franchises. The Dallas Cowboys NFL team were valued at 5.7 billion US dollars by Forbes last year, but Chelsea were sold this year for 2.5 billion pounds and fellow Premier League side Bournemouth is being sold to another US investor, Bill Foley, for a reported 150 million pounds.

Niamh O’Mahony adds: “It seems to be all about buying a club on the cheap, bringing in players on the cheap, getting them capped and selling them on then replicating that multiple times in other countries.

“There’s this notion in football that if you run a business and make money then you can make money in football. People are coming into clubs with no knowledge of the local regulations and assume they can make changes in other industries and can do the same in football, which they can’t.”

MCO strategy
Ownership of stakes in more than one club may not mean an MCO strategy is in play. Dermot Desmond, for example, has stakes in Scottish giant Celtic and Irish side Shamrock Rovers, but he has not championed the sort of approach that Chelsea’s new American co-owner Todd Boehly wants.

Boehly has tasked executive Tom Glick to buy an MCO portfolio and started talks with Portuguese outfit Portimonense. Newcastle are also expected to start building up an MCO empire, but in some cases groups are seeking to take stakes to gain influence.

Arctos has a stake in Liverpool’s owners Fenway and stakes in Italian side Atalanta and US club Real Salt Lake. Redbird also has stakes in both Fenway and Spanish side Malaga.

In Australia’s A-League, Newcastle Jets’ Chinese owner Martin Lee had his licence revoked in January 2021. Western Sydney Wanderers, Sydney FC and Western United then stepped in to prop up the club until another owner could be found with US businessman Brett Johnson, who has interests in four clubs including English side Ipswich Town, starting talks about a deal earlier this year.

“This wouldn’t and shouldn’t happen anywhere else,” says Bonita Mersiades, former head of corporate and public affairs at Football Federation Australia. “I don’t like multi-club ownership as a principle, but I also think we long ago lost the battle for football being what it once was. Big organisations, private equity, spreading risk and influence across continents…it’s probably the only way some competitions can keep going. FIFA has gone down the same path but at a higher level.”

Influence and access
As investors accumulate clubs, they are also buying access and influence at the European Clubs Association, which is the only club association recognised by UEFA despite representing less than quarter of the continent’s 1,100 clubs.

There are 245 clubs in the ECA but only 110 ordinary members have voting rights, which gives these sides more sway and Josimar’s research shows that the MCO spending spree is buying up influence.

David Blitzer now has access to a full ECA vote after the buyout of Brøndby and 777 Partners owns or has stakes in two full ECA members: Belgium’s Standard Liège and Spanish side Sevilla.

Neither of the two European clubs that John Textor has interests in, Crystal Palace and RWD Molenbeek, are in the ECA but if the American completes his takeover of Olympique Lyonnais he will control a club with full voting rights at the ECA.

Red Bull controls two full ECA votes through ownership of Salzburg and Leipzig, and Redbird owns or has a stake in two full ECA members: AC Milan and Liverpool through an interest in Fenway. Similarly, Arctos owns stakes in two ECA members with voting rights: Italy’s Atalanta and Liverpool’s owner Fenway.

While institutional investors such as Arctos say they are taking a ‘passive’ approach to their investments, the sole motivation of private equity groups is to provide a return for investors.

Buying access
Some speculators or clubs are also gaining access to the ECA through acquisitions and MCO deals. West Ham United are not in the ECA but Sparta Prague – the other club that Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky has a stake in – is an ordinary member.

English side Wolverhampton, which is owned by Fosun International, are not in the ECA. Fortunately, board member Guo Guangchang is married to Jenny Wang, who owns full ECA member Grasshoppers of Zurich, Switzerland.

English Premier League side Brentford are not in the ECA but owner Matthew Benham has ECA voting rights after his 2014 acquisition of Danish club Midtjylland, which is an ordinary member.

PSG has long been an influential ECA member and will now have more support as Braga is an associate.
Associate members have little or no real influence but ECA membership at this level does provide access for club owners to key decision makers.

In September 2022, the ECA also launched a new network for 160 ‘aspiring clubs of Europe’, seemingly in response to the emergence of the new Union of European Clubs (UEC), which is seeking to represent the swathe of clubs left unrepresented by the ECA. There are now 80 clubs in the ECA Network. The ECA did not respond to a request from Josimar to identify these clubs but the likelihood is that some will be in MCOs.

UEC opposition
The Union of European Clubs has interest from more than 100 clubs and is opposed to MCO on integrity grounds.

“The UEC generally shares the opinion of the EU Commission in the ENIC case,” says Katarina Pijetlovic, a sports lawyer and one of the driving forces behind the UEC.

Tottenham Hotspur owners ENIC had built up stakes in a number of other European clubs in the 1990s and when two other teams in this MCO group, AEK Athens and Slavia Prague, qualified for UEFA competition the European body ruled in 2000/01 that two teams whose owners had a stake of 50.1 percent or more could not play each other. The Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld this decision.

Ms Pijetlovic adds: “Integrity concerns connected to multi-club ownership of clubs participating in the same competition prevail over the concerns about restrictions placed on investors by the rule prohibiting such ownership.

“The issue starts with the consumer and fan perception. If two or more clubs are directly or indirectly controlled by the same entity or managed by the same person it would give rise to suspicions that the games might not be authentic. To keep consumers/fans’ confidence and interest, games must represent honest sporting competitions. If there is as much as a perception that they don’t reflect an honest competition, it could hurt the commercial value of the whole league, and clubs would be less capable of extracting value from their economic activities. If ownership structures lend themselves to enhanced possibility or incentive to fix the outcome of matches, such perception would certainly exist.”

One of the biggest MCO portfolios in Europe was accumulated by Eric Mao, who took stakes or control of clubs in Portugal, Ireland, Romania, Latvia, the Czech Republic and Spain before being exposed by The Black Sea as the leader of an international match-fixing syndicate.

The UEC wants MCO to be outlawed not just to protect the integrity of clubs for the fans but also for the players.

Ms Pijetlovic explains: “Another issue is that European countries treat match-fixing as a criminal offence and it would be football players held criminally accountable, among others, should any integrity incidents occur. So a prohibition on certain ownership structures in club competitions is necessary not just in the interest of commercial value, marketability, and integrity of competitions and clubs, but also for the protection of players that could become reluctant participants and ultimate victims in match-fixing schemes.”

Concerns
The idea of feeder clubs has long existed in sport and, in the right circumstances, can prove beneficial as the acquisition in 2018 of Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise by Brighton & Hove Albion’s owner Tony Bloom illustrates.

This season, the Belgian side played in the Europa League group stages and Bloom’s English club has continued to prosper despite manager Graham Potter joining Chelsea. Bloom’s former colleague Benham has also prospered with FC Midtjylland and Brentford.

However, there are plenty of contrary examples and reasons for concern. Hungarian businessman Roland Duchâtelet once owned six clubs but his MCO empire has dwindled to just two amidst fan protests.

Last season, three of Pacific Media’s clubs – Barnsley, AS Nancy-Lorraine, and Esbjerg from Denmark – were relegated, while British businessman Andy Pilley, who built up a portfolio of clubs in England, Ireland, Africa and the Middle East, is currently in court facing charges of fraud, although these have no relation to his football club ownership and are strongly denied.

Last year, Luxembourgish businessman Flavio Becca, who controls or funds two clubs – Hesperange in the Grand Duchy and Belgian side Virton – was handed a two-year suspended jail sentence and fined 250,000 euro for abuse of company assets.

Fans and players are understandably wary of their club’s owners being dragged before the courts, while there are also concerns that MCO could be used to accelerate the betting industry’s ever creeping involvement with football.

Before Todd Boehly bought into Chelsea, the American spent around 120 million pounds on buying a stake in Sportradar, which supplies live data from many sports including football to the betting industry.

MCO upside?
Regulations on club ownership are being eased in some countries to attract investment, notably Malta and Brazil, The South American country is the new frontier for MCO groups with Textor, Red Bull and 777 Partners among the investors taking stakes there. CFG has made enquiries in both Malta and Brazil and a deal with Brazilian giant Bahia is expected to be confirmed soon.

In Brazil though, there are numerous concerns about the advantage that clubs gain using the MCO structure.

Eduardo Coutinho, a lawyer specialising in globalisation of sport at the Brazilian federation, the CBF, writes: “For the sake of argument, imagine a situation that, for some reason, one of the ten clubs of a MCO group suffers the transfer ban. That means, in practical terms, that, as long as it does not pay its debt, the club will be unable to sign new players.

“In the last moments of the transfer window, a huge sport opportunity for the sanctioned club appears in the market. To sign the great player, the MCO makes a successful offer. To avoid the transfer ban, the MCO can freely register him in one of the nine other clubs, where he can play until the next window (avoiding, inclusive, the presumption of bridge transfer). After, the MCO can easily transfer him to the one previously sanctioned, considering only it pays the debt in the meantime.

“Formally, in this situation, there are no direct violations to the [regulations] or the Disciplinary Code. A club, without any sanction, hired a player. After months, in the next transfer window, two clubs, with the acceptance of the player, seal his transfer.

“In a simplistic analysis, two simple and ordinary transfers occurred, just like the thousands others operated in a transfer window. Nevertheless, even though they all played by the book, there is one thing undeniable. A club that is not part of a MCO group would not be able to dribble the transfer ban that easily and might had lost the opportunity.”

MCO groups can also get round FIFA’s new rules that start in 2024 and will limit clubs to loaning out only six players aged over 21. Clubs in MCOs with the same ownership would be able to get round this rule through intra-club loans. Concerns also exist over the sale of players for less than the market rate within MCOs that would avoid solidarity payments to clubs training players.

Global players’ union FIFPRO is also uneasy about the increasing spread of cross ownership.
Alexander Bielefeld, FIFPRO’s director global policy & strategic relations, says: “It’s fair to say stakeholders are looking into it and seeing this as an issue that is raising questions about the integrity of the game or in our case about labour relations.

“There are obviously questions relating to employment and player contracts which raise concerns in and around players’ fundamental labour rights. The question is what football specific football regulations are needed and what public authorities can bring to the table.

“There’s some soul searching going on at the moment amongst stakeholders as there is also quite a bit of variety in the types of investment and their conduct we are seeing at the moment.”

Solutions?
There are multiple reasons for concerns over the seemingly unstoppable roll-out of the MCO and with little sign of intervention further fan protests seem likely.

FSE project manager Martin Endemann says: “The more this happens, the only upside is that there will be more protests from fan bases.”

Intervention by the game’s authorities is rare. In Denmark, the league association, the Divisionsforeningen, did bring in stringent new rules over club ownership after problems at a swathe of clubs such as Jammerbugt and Fremad Amager. These regulations do not explicitly prevent MCO but signal a change in approach.

Christian Kokholm Rothmann, president of the Danish supporters’ association, says: “If the purpose is to create a network of clubs to use as farms to bypass the latest regulations in loans and development of player I think the problem is pretty clear, as they would be working against the intent and spirit of the regulations.”

With so many clubs linked across national boundaries, tackling MCO requires an international response but UEFA has already proved to be unable to regulate the phenomenon.

UEFA has recognised the difference between ownership and control and changed Article 5 of its competition rules. The controlling interest of 50.1% brought in after the ENIC case was replaced by a rule banning two clubs playing each other if the same person or group can “exercise by any means a decisive influence in the decision-making of the club.”

However, that rule appears open to interpretation. After an appeal by Red Bull in 2017, Leipzig and Salzburg were allowed to both participate in UEFA competition and played each other in the 2018/19 Europa League.

AC Milan and Lille also played each other twice in the 2020/21 Europa League. At this time, the French club’s then owner Gerard Lopez was involved in a lengthy battle for control of the team with its main backer, fund manager Elliott, which also controlled the Italian side. Both clubs qualified from their group and though no impropriety is suggested, the games were not subject to any intervention from UEFA.

Global network
While Europe is the epicentre of the MCO world, clubs from more than 50 countries around the world are caught up in this network of ownership from as far afield as Cambodia, Ecuador and Senegal and deals are happening all the time.

Danish side Aalborg is in takeover talks with an unidentified buyer and Japanese group Onodera, which already owns J2 league club Yokohama FC, has bought a 52.5% stake in Portuguese club UD Oliveirense for 3.4 million US dollars.

One approach to prevent venture capital investors preying on football for a short-term profit and taking value out of the game could be a windfall tax of between 5-10 percent levied on buyers. This would encourage owners to take a longer term approach to ownership.

Given the global web of cross-ownership being caused by MCO, this type of regulation could only come from the top of football and that means FIFA. Josimar asked FIFA if it would regulate over MCO and did not get a comment but change could be forced on the game’s global guardian.

CFG has clubs from 11 countries and Manchester City, Melbourne City, Mumbai City and Yokohama F Marinos have all won their respective titles, so the chance of one of the teams in CFG’s empire meeting in FIFA’s plans to enlarge its Club World Cup is becoming increasingly likely

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Wed Dec 28, 2022 3:55 pm

Chester Perry wrote:
Thu Dec 08, 2022 9:42 am
Deadlines come deadlines go and still Lyon are willing to give John Textor more time, this is based on the proviso that all agreements and finances are in place bar one - the ok of the Premier League - this is because Lyon takeover means that Textor will have new investors in his group which holds the major share in Crystal Palace and the Premier League need to put them through their owners and directors ringer (interestingly this will apply to any future investor in Velocity Sports Limited in regard to our club). Apparently the new deadline as no specific end date which is probably a good job as Newcastle fans well remind anyone who cares to listen that it took 20 months for the Premier League to approve their takeover

JOHN TEXTOR GIVEN FURTHER EXTENSION TO COMPLETE LYON TAKEOVER
https://www.getfootballnewsfrance.com/2 ... -takeover/
Completely missed in my Christmas break that the major shareholder in Crystal Palace (is now a group not an individual) as John Textor's football vehicle Eagle Football completed its takeover of Olympique Lyonnais on December 19 2022

Lyon confirm John Textor’s takeover
US businessman expands Eagle Football multi-club model to four teams.

https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/oly ... quisition/

You may remember amongst the issues was raising the necessary funds, loans have been used, and it seems that things financially have not gone to well for staff at Eagle Football's Brazilian club Botafogo,

LYON OWNER JOHN TEXTOR’S BOTAFOGO FALLS BEHIND ON STAFF PAYMENTS
https://www.getfootballnewsfrance.com/2 ... -payments/

Chester Perry
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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Wed Dec 28, 2022 5:54 pm

Following on from that takeover of Olympique Lyonnais - it may surprise some that the ownership of clubs in the Ligue 1 is almost as cosmopolitan as we see in the English Leagues

https://twitter.com/CIESsportsintel/sta ... 0949278721
Image

RVclaret
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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by RVclaret » Wed Dec 28, 2022 5:59 pm

West Brom have secured a £20m loan from MSD.

Haven’t given any details on interest rate etc.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Wed Dec 28, 2022 6:38 pm

RVclaret wrote:
Wed Dec 28, 2022 5:59 pm
West Brom have secured a £20m loan from MSD.

Haven’t given any details on interest rate etc.
Their first loan in 22months since West Ham - ignoring their aid to Derby to facilitate the takeover

£20m seems to be their limit to a Championship club

It will be interesting to see if they list on TISE

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Wed Dec 28, 2022 10:20 pm

On the subject of West Brom this is a vey interesting tweet from Matt Slater in response to the club announcing the MSD loan deal

https://twitter.com/mjshrimper/status/1 ... 2117611520

“For the avoidance of doubt…”

Oh, there’s no doubt about it. WBA are in danger. But who’s to blame? The chancer with no links to club/city/country who bought the club to
🤷‍♂️

Or the local guy who controversially engineered the sale, making £150m, which he took to a tax haven?

now is anyone able to draw some parallels to what we have seek at our club including the different perspectives on who is to blame

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Thu Dec 29, 2022 6:33 pm

Chester Perry wrote:
Fri Nov 11, 2022 2:08 pm
The Times with a piece on 49ers Enterprises raising funds for what appears to be an earlier than scheduled complete takeover of Leeds United - the total valuation price of circa £400m has long been agreed

San Francisco 49ers investors set for Leeds United takeover
https://archive.ph/9oIjJ
It appears that the final takeover of Leeds by 49ers Enterprises is going to happen quite soon

Leeds United owner Radrizzani confirms plans to sell Premier League club
https://www.cityam.com/leeds-united-own ... um=twitter

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Fri Dec 30, 2022 2:42 pm

Chester Perry wrote:
Sun Mar 28, 2021 1:54 pm
It is a while since I have posted about Southend Utd - things have not really improved - this is a fan's plea, an open letter to the club in video form - it is extremely moving

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSdOgXYl9kY
I haven't reported it but the problems at Southend have never stopped (if you follow Athletic report Matt Slater on twitter - @mjshrimper - you will be fully abridged as he is a lifelong fan) this latest play is truly disgusting - staff (not playing or managerial, that would incur the scrutiny of the EFL) are still waiting for their November pay and their December is due

Southend United staff still waiting for November's wages
https://www.echo-news.co.uk/sport/23218 ... ers-wages/

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by GodIsADeeJay81 » Fri Dec 30, 2022 3:30 pm

Chester Perry wrote:
Thu Dec 29, 2022 6:33 pm
It appears that the final takeover of Leeds by 49ers Enterprises is going to happen quite soon

Leeds United owner Radrizzani confirms plans to sell Premier League club
https://www.cityam.com/leeds-united-own ... um=twitter
I was at the 49ers game on Xmas eve and they're selling Leeds stuff in the 9ers store at the Levi stadium :roll:
Also saw a few people wearing Leeds stuff around San Fran.

They're clearly working on expanding the fan base and revenue streams.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by ecc » Sat Dec 31, 2022 12:50 pm

Just seen this on BBC. Apologies if already posted on here. Concerning Manchester United.

'But "spent" should actually read "committed". In their first quarter financial results, Manchester United outlined they currently owe £307m in various outstanding transfer payments, which is a Premier League record.'

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Sat Dec 31, 2022 3:06 pm

ecc wrote:
Sat Dec 31, 2022 12:50 pm
Just seen this on BBC. Apologies if already posted on here. Concerning Manchester United.

'But "spent" should actually read "committed". In their first quarter financial results, Manchester United outlined they currently owe £307m in various outstanding transfer payments, which is a Premier League record.'
To date this kind of debt has never feature in FFP rules at UEFA or in this country - it probably should and does in La Liga which has the most strict and strictly adhered to rules in regards to FFP (though none of the current rules are called that anywhere I believe).

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Sat Dec 31, 2022 4:26 pm

With a transfer window about to open it feels inevitable that focus should return to Jorge Mendes - here The Athletic ponders on the notion he may be about to become close to the action at Aston Villa

Aston Villa and agent Jorge Mendes: A relationship evaluated
https://archive.is/TQe6d

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Sun Jan 01, 2023 12:28 pm

Chester Perry wrote:
Thu Dec 15, 2022 10:40 am
There is some very clever politiking in the advisory notice - yes the clubs can create a new league - but and this could be the clincher - they can also be thrown out of their domestic Leagues - if the appropriate league bodies decide so if they do

European Super League: legal adviser’s view delivers blow to ailing project
European court of justice advocate general backs Uefa and Fifa
Says clubs can break away but need approval to stay in leagues


https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... a-fifa-ecj
There are a number of stories circulating that the late and long awaited Government White Paper following up the Fan Led Review which is expected to provide the groundwork for an Independent Football Regulator is to be published imminently - that IReF is expected to have the same powers as outlined in the Eurpean Courts advisory Note of December 15 last - the message to prospective Super League members is that you can join a breakaway but do not expect to take part in the established competitions as well - this may also put an end to speculation about a Premier League 2

from the Telegraph

New regulator to be given power to stop breakaway leagues
Government plans for watchdog would empower them to prevent secession and require clubs to engage in good financial practice

https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fw ... leagues%2F

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Goalposts » Sun Jan 01, 2023 1:38 pm

It’s looking like **** or bust for west Brom this season with that Msd loan. They need to go up are will be in administration before end of this season

*4 auditors quit in 7 yrs
* Old owner borrowed £3.7m from club in 2014 which has not been repaid
* Current owner borrowed over £4m at low interest rate & failed to repay on promised date
*New £20m loan from MSD this week. You don’t get a mortgage to pay day to day bills..

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Sun Jan 01, 2023 4:17 pm

Goalposts wrote:
Sun Jan 01, 2023 1:38 pm
It’s looking like **** or bust for west Brom this season with that Msd loan. They need to go up are will be in administration before end of this season

*4 auditors quit in 7 yrs
* Old owner borrowed £3.7m from club in 2014 which has not been repaid
* Current owner borrowed over £4m at low interest rate & failed to repay on promised date
*New £20m loan from MSD this week. You don’t get a mortgage to pay day to day bills..
the interesting question here is what has it taken in guarantees and interest for MSD to get involved in a £20m 4 year loan, to cover operational costs with all the other known information about the goings on at West Brom

I am assuming that like at Derby there have been some personal guarantees made to cover the loan, but by who and with what assets? Mel Morris had to put properties in London and Sandbanks up as his personal guarantee.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Sun Jan 01, 2023 11:48 pm

Chester Perry wrote:
Sun Jan 01, 2023 12:28 pm
There are a number of stories circulating that the late and long awaited Government White Paper following up the Fan Led Review which is expected to provide the groundwork for an Independent Football Regulator is to be published imminently - that IReF is expected to have the same powers as outlined in the Eurpean Courts advisory Note of December 15 last - the message to prospective Super League members is that you can join a breakaway but do not expect to take part in the established competitions as well - this may also put an end to speculation about a Premier League 2

from the Telegraph

New regulator to be given power to stop breakaway leagues
Government plans for watchdog would empower them to prevent secession and require clubs to engage in good financial practice

https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fw ... leagues%2F
An Interesting piece in the Mail - it would be so government like to appoint a former minister (in this case Prime Minister) as the first IReF

'Someone has to speak up for the fans. We have to remind foreign owners that our clubs are like families, not gambling joints': Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown on why football MUST have a regulator… and he won’t rule himself out of the job!
- Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has long been a fan of the beautiful game
- Brown fell in love with the sport after watching his hometown club Raith Rovers
- 71-year-old believes football needs to be overseen by an independent regulator
- Ex-Labour leader says a regulator will allow fans greater control over their clubs

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footb ... lator.html

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Mon Jan 02, 2023 12:35 am

An excellent piece in the Independent by Miguel Delaney which outlines the next set of issues that football will be focussed on

2023 marks the start of football’s next era
After the era-defining Qatar World Cup and careers of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, the powers behind football’s sportswashing race will turn their attention to the club game as Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland prepare to take centre stage

https://archive.is/lLGzX

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Mon Jan 02, 2023 1:14 am

Goalposts wrote:
Sun Jan 01, 2023 1:38 pm
It’s looking like **** or bust for west Brom this season with that Msd loan. They need to go up are will be in administration before end of this season

*4 auditors quit in 7 yrs
* Old owner borrowed £3.7m from club in 2014 which has not been repaid
* Current owner borrowed over £4m at low interest rate & failed to repay on promised date
*New £20m loan from MSD this week. You don’t get a mortgage to pay day to day bills..
Interesting piece on West Brom fans investigating the actions of their owners

“West Brom board owe us answers,” Action For Albion founder Alistair Jones
https://sportsgazette.co.uk/west-brom-b ... air-jones/

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Mon Jan 02, 2023 10:24 pm

Chester Perry wrote:
Fri Dec 30, 2022 2:42 pm
I haven't reported it but the problems at Southend have never stopped (if you follow Athletic report Matt Slater on twitter - @mjshrimper - you will be fully abridged as he is a lifelong fan) this latest play is truly disgusting - staff (not playing or managerial, that would incur the scrutiny of the EFL) are still waiting for their November pay and their December is due

Southend United staff still waiting for November's wages
https://www.echo-news.co.uk/sport/23218 ... ers-wages/
Southend's CEO tells the BBC they have a £2m a year funding shortage - who does the budget planning? it is not that difficult to get right and at that level £2m should be more than the total annual budget

Southend United facing annual funding gap of 'about £2m', says CEO
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/64139910

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Big Vinny K » Mon Jan 02, 2023 11:01 pm

Chester Perry wrote:
Mon Jan 02, 2023 10:24 pm
Southend's CEO tells the BBC they have a £2m a year funding shortage - who does the budget planning? it is not that difficult to get right and at that level £2m should be more than the total annual budget

Southend United facing annual funding gap of 'about £2m', says CEO
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/64139910
Not really a case of who does the budget planning.
It’s more of a case that the club just can’t cover its outgoings. These will undoubtedly be outgoings they can do little or nothing about.

I’m sure whoever puts their budgets together knew there was going to be a massive shortfall. The owners and the board will know that too.

Clubs at this level are generating very little in revenue. Southend are losing about £40k a week. I’m guessing they have been left with player wages for a division 2 team. They are getting around 6k for home games which is pretty decent at that level but like everyone they Will be facing increased energy costs for the ground and increases in everything else too.

Like many clubs who have gone through the leagues they will eventually go into administration or their losses will be subsidised by sugar daddy owners.

Can’t imagine how much the likes of Wrexham are losing when they have a wage bill approaching £3m a year and giving better contracts to the likes of Mullin and Palmer than division one clubs could offer them.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Mon Jan 02, 2023 11:15 pm

Exactly my point - there is nothing here of a surprise, cut your cloth accordingly or pay what you have committed to

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Big Vinny K » Mon Jan 02, 2023 11:47 pm

Chester Perry wrote:
Mon Jan 02, 2023 11:15 pm
Exactly my point - there is nothing here of a surprise, cut your cloth accordingly or pay what you have committed to
How though ?
If nobody wants to buy your players you have little choice but to wait till their contracts run out.

I thought Southend had recent plans for a new stadium too. Not sure if that’s on hold or not but they may have owners who can ride out these losses for a couple of years. Or they may be a commercial plan in place related to their old ground / the new ground.

Southend quite a big catchment area for fans etc and have potential to get decent crowds if they are doing well.

The National League is a funny league. Very tough to get out of and full of ex league teams. Often you get a few clubs in this league who are bigger and wealthier than many division 2 teams. Wrexham this year, Stockport last season and previously Salford etc

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Mon Jan 02, 2023 11:59 pm

Big Vinny K wrote:
Mon Jan 02, 2023 11:47 pm
How though ?
If nobody wants to buy your players you have little choice but to wait till their contracts run out.

I thought Southend had recent plans for a new stadium too. Not sure if that’s on hold or not but they may have owners who can ride out these losses for a couple of years. Or they may be a commercial plan in place related to their old ground / the new ground.

Southend quite a big catchment area for fans etc and have potential to get decent crowds if they are doing well.

The National League is a funny league. Very tough to get out of and full of ex league teams. Often you get a few clubs in this league who are bigger and wealthier than many division 2 teams. Wrexham this year, Stockport last season and previously Salford etc
The problems at Southend are not new - there have been more than a dozen wind-up appearances in the High Court filed by HMRC alone in recent years - The owner is trying to push through a huge property deal with the ground

At that end of the league, player contracts tend to be 12 -24 months and there are well established practices of relegation enforced wage cuts too (along with parachute payments)

The owner has chosen to run with these costs and not cut the cloth accordingly

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Big Vinny K » Tue Jan 03, 2023 12:19 am

As I said they either end up in administration or subsidised by their owners…..and often both !

It’s been happening for years - we are one of the few clubs who have avoided being wound up. But we came very close a few times. Many clubs have had multiple administrations.

It’s never going to change - clubs will always over reach themselves.

I saw at first hand what Leicester City did a few years ago when they went bust. They carried on paying Muzzy Izzet £30k a week, moved into a shiny new stadium whilst failing to pay a £7m bill to a local building firm who had to lay off most of their workforce as Leicester went into receivership.

Football gets away with murder - always has done and always will.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Tue Jan 03, 2023 1:12 am

This is interesting, when considered in the light of the work going on by the Premier League with regard to it's proposed 'New deal'

From the Telegraph

Premier League could negotiate FA's broadcast deals as part of relationship reforms
This meeting will be the first significant engagement for Alison Brittain, the former Whitbread chief executive, who takes over as chairman

https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fw ... ionship%2F

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Tue Jan 03, 2023 3:54 pm

Chester Perry wrote:
Mon Jan 02, 2023 1:14 am
Interesting piece on West Brom fans investigating the actions of their owners

“West Brom board owe us answers,” Action For Albion founder Alistair Jones
https://sportsgazette.co.uk/west-brom-b ... air-jones/
The fan protests at West Brom are gaining momentum and media interest - it will be interesting to see how this develops and what impact if any a continued on-field improvement will have on their momentum - Jeremy Peace is being held in a similar light to Mike Garlick at our club - there is no doubt he timed his exit nicely but you would also say the current owner grossly overpaid

from the Athletic

Guochuan Lai and West Bromwich Albion: An unhappy relationship
https://archive.is/fXTbJ

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Tue Jan 03, 2023 4:05 pm

Chester Perry wrote:
Thu Dec 29, 2022 6:33 pm
It appears that the final takeover of Leeds by 49ers Enterprises is going to happen quite soon

Leeds United owner Radrizzani confirms plans to sell Premier League club
https://www.cityam.com/leeds-united-own ... um=twitter
The Athletic outlines the reasons why Radrizzanni is selling (he is making a handsome profit) and treads the familiar road of why money is all important - which is true even though some fight gloriously against the tide for spells such as ourselves, and with greater money (though still not enough) Brentford currently and Leicester until recently

Radrizzani is right: Leeds United need 49ers takeover to change their trajectory
https://archive.is/KBbSW

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Duffer_ » Tue Jan 03, 2023 4:14 pm

Sad to see West Brom fans fearing for the survival of their club. Henry Winter calling for strong leadership, the kind of leadership that would not have allowed the leveraged takeover of a provincial football club that means so much to the community to which it belongs.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/781e ... 65f812c7a5

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Tue Jan 03, 2023 4:16 pm

West Ham were thought to have a chance challenging the established order following the last two seasons efforts (it does appear to have caught up with them though. Last week they revealed their 2021/22 financial results - which showed just how far they had pushed themselves on the earnings side - Swiss Ramble takes a look

https://swissramble.substack.com/p/west ... email=true

This is how the club released the news

https://www.whufc.com/news/financial-re ... -announced

and this is their full financial report

https://cdn.whufc.com/sites/default/fil ... nts%20.pdf

This year is likely to see the sale of the club completed (once the penalty period, contained in the Stadium lease, expires) It will be interesting trying to work out just how much profit will be extracted by the Bros from their ownership and how quickly they return to Birmingham if the rumours are true

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Tue Jan 03, 2023 4:19 pm

Duffer_ wrote:
Tue Jan 03, 2023 4:14 pm
Sad to see West Brom fans fearing for the survival of their club. Henry Winter calling for strong leadership, the kind of leadership that would not have allowed the leveraged takeover of a provincial football club that means so much to the community to which it belongs.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/781e ... 65f812c7a5
This is an archived version of the same article - so we can read and refer to it going forward

Dose of strong leadership needed to cure game’s ills
The organisations that run football need to be stronger to deal with errant owners and the many issues affecting fans

https://archive.is/uXQaY
This user liked this post: Duffer_

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Tue Jan 03, 2023 4:40 pm

Meanwhile over at Everton the 27 years campaign has rebranded into NSNOW, coming from the clubs motto Nil Satis, Nisi Optimum ('Nothing but the best is good enough') which may account for what a number of non-evertonian' consider to be their supports arrogance.

there is a new website

https://www.nsnow.co.uk/the-27-campaign ... -to-nsnow/

and their first protest under this new grouping has already been organised

Everton fans plan fresh protests over ‘incompetent management’ of club
- Frank Lampard’s side are 16th, a point above the drop zone
- Fan group demands ‘better leadership for future of our club’

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... nt-of-club

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Tue Jan 03, 2023 10:37 pm

the Telegraph with news that comes as no surprise given sports increasingly close partnership with gambling, look up
convergence' on this thread - this has already happened in the US and seen franchise values rise as a result, though this is not quite the same yet (the yet being the operative) and I suspect a future IReF may prevent it

Clubs slammed over 'honeytrap' gambling plan
Exclusive: Sheffield Wednesday among the first clubs to enter into a deal with William Hill to open a betting shop at the stadium

https://archive.is/hB3OM

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Wed Jan 04, 2023 11:49 am

@SwissRamble looks at the Rise of American Ownership of clubs in the Premier League - the link is to substack not twitter so is a much easier read

https://swissramble.substack.com/p/the- ... email=true

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Big Vinny K » Wed Jan 04, 2023 12:23 pm

Chester Perry wrote:
Wed Jan 04, 2023 11:49 am
@SwissRamble looks at the Rise of American Ownership of clubs in the Premier League - the link is to substack not twitter so is a much easier read

https://swissramble.substack.com/p/the- ... email=true
Really interesting summary that CP.
I knew that American ownership was on the increase but never realised it had grown to this extent - especially when you look at the total revenue now controlled by them.
It’s still not exactly clear (to me at least !) what the end strategy is for a lot of new owners. Given the losses being made by lots of premier league club you think it would be growth in the value of the clubs with an ultimate aim to sell the club but in recent times the astronomical costs of buying clubs like Chelsea and the value being touted for United etc you wonder how much further potential for growth there is. These massive clubs also require hundreds of millions of pounds of further investment - each season in some cases - and that’s just to try and get a champions league place for some clubs.

Clearly the Americans also believe there is some significant potential for TV revenues to grow even further and streaming and pay per view will be a big part of this given how American sport is covered.

Noticed on the comments section the following which references MSD :


Very interesting and timely. A dimension to keep an eye on is the extent of return these investors and other financing parties (eg MSD) extract from the clubs via dividends or yield on high-interest bonds. The capital return is much more of an art than a science and less predictable, but a PIK yield or annual interest payment is money in the bank from virtually guaranteed revenues, with an obvious conflict versus spend on the squad and facilities. The Glazers are the best known example but this is a trend that is going to grow along with ownership. Great work again though.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by tiger76 » Wed Jan 04, 2023 1:37 pm

Juventus back in financial trouble, why am I not surprised.https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/64150753

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Wed Jan 04, 2023 1:40 pm

Chester Perry wrote:
Fri Nov 11, 2022 1:41 pm
Of course, the kings of multi-club football ownership are CFG whose Chairman also runs Mubadala the State Invesment Fund of Abu Dhabi - not content with just owning clubs the Mubadala are now investing in a reformed Brazilian League, which finally looks to be getting off the ground

Brazil’s Libra soccer league chooses Mubadala Capital as new investor
Abu Dhabi-backed firm to own 20% of league’s commercial rights for US$971m.


https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/bra ... hts-stake/
I have been posting about attempts to launch a revised Brazilian League (modelled on the Premier League) for quite some time now - things finally appear to be happening now - this from the Financial Times, the writer is not a football writer but the FT's specialist on Brazil

Brazilian football’s new goal: a league that can take on the world
A pair of opposing consortiums are vying to create a new domestic competition

https://archive.is/soDR3

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Wed Jan 04, 2023 1:54 pm

Big Vinny K wrote:
Wed Jan 04, 2023 12:23 pm
Really interesting summary that CP.
I knew that American ownership was on the increase but never realised it had grown to this extent - especially when you look at the total revenue now controlled by them.
It’s still not exactly clear (to me at least !) what the end strategy is for a lot of new owners. Given the losses being made by lots of premier league club you think it would be growth in the value of the clubs with an ultimate aim to sell the club but in recent times the astronomical costs of buying clubs like Chelsea and the value being touted for United etc you wonder how much further potential for growth there is. These massive clubs also require hundreds of millions of pounds of further investment - each season in some cases - and that’s just to try and get a champions league place for some clubs.

Clearly the Americans also believe there is some significant potential for TV revenues to grow even further and streaming and pay per view will be a big part of this given how American sport is covered.

Noticed on the comments section the following which references MSD :


Very interesting and timely. A dimension to keep an eye on is the extent of return these investors and other financing parties (eg MSD) extract from the clubs via dividends or yield on high-interest bonds. The capital return is much more of an art than a science and less predictable, but a PIK yield or annual interest payment is money in the bank from virtually guaranteed revenues, with an obvious conflict versus spend on the squad and facilities. The Glazers are the best known example but this is a trend that is going to grow along with ownership. Great work again though.
The depth of American interest in English football is ridiculous - last week Gillingham in League 2 were subject to an American takeover making them the 4th club at that level to be US owned
https://twitter.com/CIESsportsintel/sta ... 2236602378

Image

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Wed Jan 04, 2023 2:36 pm

Big Vinny K wrote:
Wed Jan 04, 2023 12:23 pm
Really interesting summary that CP.
I knew that American ownership was on the increase but never realised it had grown to this extent - especially when you look at the total revenue now controlled by them.
It’s still not exactly clear (to me at least !) what the end strategy is for a lot of new owners. Given the losses being made by lots of premier league club you think it would be growth in the value of the clubs with an ultimate aim to sell the club but in recent times the astronomical costs of buying clubs like Chelsea and the value being touted for United etc you wonder how much further potential for growth there is. These massive clubs also require hundreds of millions of pounds of further investment - each season in some cases - and that’s just to try and get a champions league place for some clubs.

Clearly the Americans also believe there is some significant potential for TV revenues to grow even further and streaming and pay per view will be a big part of this given how American sport is covered.

Noticed on the comments section the following which references MSD :


Very interesting and timely. A dimension to keep an eye on is the extent of return these investors and other financing parties (eg MSD) extract from the clubs via dividends or yield on high-interest bonds. The capital return is much more of an art than a science and less predictable, but a PIK yield or annual interest payment is money in the bank from virtually guaranteed revenues, with an obvious conflict versus spend on the squad and facilities. The Glazers are the best known example but this is a trend that is going to grow along with ownership. Great work again though.
It is worth listening to Monday's Price of Football Podcast for a take on this where it opens up with a detailed discussion about the financial ambitions for Chelsea's new owners

https://open.spotify.com/show/7c7ltYVwnicbVz0uYTXAW5

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Wed Jan 04, 2023 3:20 pm

tiger76 wrote:
Wed Jan 04, 2023 1:37 pm
Juventus back in financial trouble, why am I not surprised.https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/64150753
I was working my way round to this, thank you for posting - first though, given that so much of this was known (and posted on this thread in quite some detail) is that the money owed to Ronaldo is a football debt that would have prevented Juventus from player trading if they were in the English league structure.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Duffer_ » Wed Jan 04, 2023 4:07 pm

I get a bit excited every time I see that @SUFCOfficial might be going into administration...until I remember it's Scunny and not Sheff Utd. Then I feel bad for a few minutes for wishing that fate on any football club.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Wed Jan 04, 2023 6:22 pm

This is old news to me and has been the subject of discussion on this board previously, particularly around how he managed to afford his involvement in Inter Miami, David Beckham's move to MLS was always meant to be a game changer and so it has proved to be - Football's Magic Money Tree in full effect

from Huddle Up

The Hidden Details Behind David Beckham’s MLS Contract That Earned Him $500 Million
https://huddleup.substack.com/p/the-hid ... email=true

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Thu Jan 05, 2023 12:16 pm

The situation at Crawley Town is beyond bizarre - I wouldn't say it is because the owners are American, rather more that they have a very different mindset to life and having made their money quick and young, may believe that they know all the answers

from the Guardian

Crypto chaos: how Crawley crumbled under owners’ reckless leadership
The League Two club are in serious trouble thanks to an owner in the dugout, a 32-day managerial reign and a bizarre bonus

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... leadership

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by ClaretPete001 » Thu Jan 05, 2023 1:43 pm

Apropos of nothing, I watched the Bernie Madoff documentary last evening.

Madoff had $64 billion in a Ponzi scheme and didn't make a single investment on behalf of his clients.

The SEC investigated him several times and somehow failed to notice he was not making any investments and never once made a loss.

The Madoff company printed statements on a dot matrix printer and refused to give any details of investments (because there were none) and it carried on for decades.

A mathematician showed that to make the kind of returns Madoff was claiming he would have had more trades than was actually happening across the whole industry. He added it to 29 other 'red flag' points and sent it to the SEC several times and still the SEC did nothing.

So, stupid was the SEC when faced with allegations about Madoff they rang him up and asked him....?

He only got found out when he could not meet his obligations after the 2008 crash.

It's quite amazing.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Thu Jan 05, 2023 4:28 pm

An interesting report from World football Summit looking at Football Ownership and Governance. Be aware that in the introduction it gives what it believed to be the size of the global football market in USD - it is a way out (the Premier League alone is bigger than that) and I suspect it is a whole decimal point out - still there is some very useful background information in there for those who want to wade through it

https://worldfootballsummit.com/wp-cont ... S-22-1.pdf

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by RVclaret » Thu Jan 05, 2023 4:36 pm

ClaretPete001 wrote:
Thu Jan 05, 2023 1:43 pm
Apropos of nothing, I watched the Bernie Madoff documentary last evening.

Madoff had $64 billion in a Ponzi scheme and didn't make a single investment on behalf of his clients.

The SEC investigated him several times and somehow failed to notice he was not making any investments and never once made a loss.

The Madoff company printed statements on a dot matrix printer and refused to give any details of investments (because there were none) and it carried on for decades.

A mathematician showed that to make the kind of returns Madoff was claiming he would have had more trades than was actually happening across the whole industry. He added it to 29 other 'red flag' points and sent it to the SEC several times and still the SEC did nothing.

So, stupid was the SEC when faced with allegations about Madoff they rang him up and asked him....?

He only got found out when he could not meet his obligations after the 2008 crash.

It's quite amazing.
Work in the financial markets myself and already know the Madoff story, though looking forward to this Netflix doc, just started it. Lot of dodgy people in this industry, as has just been shown again with Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX (similar story to Madoff).

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by ClaretPete001 » Thu Jan 05, 2023 7:56 pm

RVclaret wrote:
Thu Jan 05, 2023 4:36 pm
Work in the financial markets myself and already know the Madoff story, though looking forward to this Netflix doc, just started it. Lot of dodgy people in this industry, as has just been shown again with Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX (similar story to Madoff).
Indeed. I really enjoyed it and tbh it only re-affirmed my attitude towards the financial markets, which was pretty low anyway after the dot.com crash of the late 90s and the 2008 fiasco.

Was caught out in the Neil Woodford/Hargreaves Lansdown fiasco with Hargreaves Lansdown and lost a grand, which hurt enough; particularly as the wife shifted her investment before it went belly up.

So, yes you feel a fool when these things happen but Madoff was so obvious even an idiot like me wouldn't have fallen for it.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Thu Jan 05, 2023 11:04 pm

It appears that the Premier League have finally got a unified view on their 'New Deal' for football - That was probably the hardest part, no matter what comes of the talks with the rest of football that begin on Friday - if you find that hard to believe consider that when football was hauled in front of the DCMS during the height of the pandemic in 2020 the Premier League said they would have solutions in place by early 2021 - two years later than that and we have the first talks with other football interests - and I believe that they are only happening as a result of the government insisting their White Paper on IReF will be published imminently.

from the Mail

Talks to begin on Friday over top Premier League teams QUITTING the Carabao Cup or fielding U21s sides, Todd Boehly's 'All-Star Game' and an overseas Community Shield in football's big shake-up
- English football's powerbrokers are expected to hold significant talks on Friday
- The biggest shake-up of the domestic game for 30 years is set to be discussed
- The Premier League is tabling a set of changes dubbed 'A New Deal For Football'
- One of them would see replays in the FA Cup scrapped beyond the third round
- Top Premier League teams would also play less of a part in the Carabao Cup
- While the timing of the Community Shield fixture is also set to be discussed

https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fw ... riday.html

Chester Perry
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Joined: Thu Jun 02, 2016 11:06 am
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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Thu Jan 05, 2023 11:44 pm

Chester Perry wrote:
Thu Jan 05, 2023 11:04 pm
It appears that the Premier League have finally got a unified view on their 'New Deal' for football - That was probably the hardest part, no matter what comes of the talks with the rest of football that begin on Friday - if you find that hard to believe consider that when football was hauled in front of the DCMS during the height of the pandemic in 2020 the Premier League said they would have solutions in place by early 2021 - two years later than that and we have the first talks with other football interests - and I believe that they are only happening as a result of the government insisting their White Paper on IReF will be published imminently.

from the Mail

Talks to begin on Friday over top Premier League teams QUITTING the Carabao Cup or fielding U21s sides, Todd Boehly's 'All-Star Game' and an overseas Community Shield in football's big shake-up
- English football's powerbrokers are expected to hold significant talks on Friday
- The biggest shake-up of the domestic game for 30 years is set to be discussed
- The Premier League is tabling a set of changes dubbed 'A New Deal For Football'
- One of them would see replays in the FA Cup scrapped beyond the third round
- Top Premier League teams would also play less of a part in the Carabao Cup
- While the timing of the Community Shield fixture is also set to be discussed

https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fw ... riday.html
no surprise that this story first broke elsewhere - namely Martin Zeigler at The Time - here's his article, the meeting is a hugely significant step into the unknown for all.

English football chiefs to hold summit over biggest shake-up in 30 years
Six leading figures will meet to discuss proposals that include elite clubs skipping the Carabao Cup and playing the Community Shield abroad

https://archive.is/ofISz

Chester Perry
Posts: 19167
Joined: Thu Jun 02, 2016 11:06 am
Been Liked: 3114 times
Has Liked: 481 times

Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Thu Jan 05, 2023 11:46 pm

Chester Perry wrote:
Thu Jan 05, 2023 11:44 pm
no surprise that this story first broke elsewhere - namely Martin Zeigler at The Time - here's his article, the meeting is a hugely significant step into the unknown for all.

English football chiefs to hold summit over biggest shake-up in 30 years
Six leading figures will meet to discuss proposals that include elite clubs skipping the Carabao Cup and playing the Community Shield abroad

https://archive.is/ofISz
That article links to this one from September

Premier League clubs consider plans to scrap FA Cup replays and revamp League Cup
https://archive.is/e42lr

and this one from last week

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak gives go-ahead to plan for football regulator
https://archive.is/3hwhU

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