Portland Thorns sells for record $63m to Raj Sports
January 5 – NWSL club Portland Thorns have been sold for $63 million, a record for the acquisition of a women’s club.
Finance
Player valuations boom. Will Bellingham be the first €300m player
January 4 – Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham is the most valuable player in world football at €267.5 million according to the latest report by the CIES Football Observatory. Manchester City’s Erling Haaland ranks second at €251.2 million and Vinicius rounding out the top three.
Levski Sofia agree three-year deal to repay debt owed to Bulgarian state
June 4 – Bulgaria’s Levski Sofia have successfully concluded negotiations with the country’s National Revenue Agency (NRA) to reschedule debt owed to the state over the next three years.
777 Partners-owned Standard Liège post losses of €20m+
January 3 – Belgian club Standard Liège have posted more than €20 million in losses for the 2022-23 season, bringing further damages to its finances and threatening the club’s future.
Ratcliffe and Ineos complete £1.03bn Man Utd buy-in and take control of operations
December 29 – The long-awaited sale of 25% of Manchester United to Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos Group for £1.03 billion has been completed.
Former Sheffield Utd wannabe Dozy Mmobuosi wakes up to billion dollar SEC fraud complaint
By Paul Nicholson
December 21 – The Nigerian businessman who was the preferred bidder for Sheffield United as they journeyed to England’s Premier League is facing multiple fraud charges from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for billions of dollars of fictitious transactions.
Aston Villa owners take in new money from Atairos for expansion of V Sports
December 15 – Premier League Aston Villa’s holding company, V Sports, has secured an investment from east coast US private equity firm Atairos.
Agents bank a record $881m in 2023 as court rulings give them protection from FIFA fee regulation
December 15 – Player agents fees reached a record $881.million in 2023, a massive 42.5% increase in the $623.2 million paid to agents in 2022. The previous record for agents fees was set in 2019 ($654.7 million).
Premier League aligns with UEFA rules and cuts transfer fee amortisation to five years
December 13 – Premier League clubs have voted to limit to five years the period over which a player’s transfer fee can be spread in their accounts, hitting teams like Chelsea who have controversially been signing a number of players on staggering long deals, amortising the cost of the transfer over the whole period.
Bundesliga clubs greenlight €1bn private equity money raise for commercial rights
December 12 – Germany’s Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 clubs have greenlighted a proposal to raise an estimated €1 billion in private equity investment in return for a 20-year share in their commercial rights.
Qataris sell minority stake in PSG to US private equity firm Arctos
December 7 – Qatar Sports Investment (QSI) has sold a minority stake in Paris Saint-Germain to US-based private investment firm Arctos Partners, the club confirmed on Thursday.
Brentford owner Matthew Benham puts minority stake up for sale, reports
December 6 – Premier League Brentford’s owner Matthew Benham is reportedly considering the sale of a stake in the Premier League team.
Sevilla shareholders agree €300m stadium expansion
December 6 – La Liga’s Sevilla have unveiled plans for a large-scale development of their Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium.
Player agents win UK court case that scuppers FIFA’s new rules and protects big money transfer fees
December 1 – A court has ruled that FIFA’s new agency rules cannot be legally applied in the UK, putting the global rollout of the rules in their current into question. FIFA could end up shelving them completely while they lick their wounds from the legal loss.
CSB sells York United franchise to Game Plan Sports Group who go ‘all in’ on Canadian league
December 1 – Canadian Soccer Business (CSB), the commercial arm of the Canadian Premier League (CPL), has sold the York United FC franchise to Game Plan Sports Group with the deal coming into effect immediately.