January 20 – With all indicators pointing to a significant slowdown – and for many leagues a decline – in broadcast revenues, a section of the just published UEFA Benchmark report points to a clear area of growth opportunity.
January 17 – English Championship club Derby County have been charged by the English Football League (EFL) for a breach of spending rules and face a possible points deduction.
January 17 – The 712 top-flight clubs in Europe’s 55 leagues earned a record €21 billion in the 2018 financial year, up by 20% according to the latest “benchmarking” report from UEFA.
By David Owen
January 15 – Everton have become the second Premier League club this month to report losses of more than £100 million.
January 15 – The investor rush to secure positions in technology companies and applications that are changing the football business, and the broadcast business in particular, has seen another investment in a streaming service.
By David Owen
January 14 – Barcelona have supplanted bitter rivals Real Madrid at the top of this year’s Deloitte Football Money League, heading the ranking of the 20 highest revenue-generating world football clubs for the first time.
January 14 – The richest man in Africa has made the sensational claim that he plans to buy Arsenal some time next year.
January 8 – Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich poured £247 million into the club last season as the club recorded an overall loss of £96.6 million according to latest accounts.
January 8 – A player valuation ranking by the CIES Football Observatory makes Kylian Mbappé (France and Paris St-Germain) the world’s most valuable player at €265.2 million, with Man City and England’s Raheem Sterling at €223.7 million.
January 8 – Sunderland owner Stewart Donald (pictured) has confirmed via a statement on the club website that he will sell the League One club after mounting pressure from supporters over the holiday period demanding he leave. Donald has been in ownership charge for 18-months.
By David Owen
January 2 – Chelsea, the West London club whose new young team has surprised many this season with the spirit and consistency of their play under former talisman Frank Lampard, has reported a hefty loss for the year to end-June 2019.
January 3 – Serie A’s Roma looks set to change hands between American owners with James Pallotta (pictured) reportedly having agreed a €780 million deal with the Texas-based Friedkin Group run by billionaire Dan Freidkin.
January 3 – Belgian Roland Duchatelet’s foray into English club ownership is over with the sale of English Championship side Charlton Athletic to Abu Dhabi-based consortium East Street Investments (ESI) for an undisclosed amount.
December 30 – US investors buying European clubs has become commonplace but European investors moving into the US to acquire a stake in club soccer is not.
December 16 – The loss of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) contract has knocked between €210-€240 million off the sales price of the Lagardère Sports.