![]() Note: Local owner refers to an owner coming from the same country as the club. Eight years later, Real Zaragoza was sold to a group of investors including the co-owners of Inter Miami CF and a partner of Ares Management Corp, a US investment firm. The dream of taking the club to its old glory was unfeasible. “He said his dad would have never forgiven him to not save Real Zaragoza if he had the chance to do so.”Īlierta spent more than €8 million ($8.6 million) to save the club, but failed to earn promotion. “Alierta’s father was the club president in the 1950s so he grew up with that experience at home,” said Fernando Sainz de Varanda, the former CEO of Real Zaragoza and Alierta’s nephew. A series of desperate phone calls led to Cesar Alierta, then chief executive officer of Spanish phone giant Telefonica, along with two other local investors, saving the club. By 2014, after an historically successful run despite its modest resources, the Spanish club was close to liquidation. Ownership was more the realization of a childhood dream that - almost always - was destined to lose money, even until recently. Manchester United bidder Ratcliffe, who made his fortune from oil and chemicals, owns OGC Nice in France.Ĭlubs were previously owned by an equally eclectic - but less wealthy - group, with proprietors ranging from porn barons to steel magnates. The American is among a group of billionaires in football that also include Dan Friedkin at AS Roma and British businessman Joe Lewis at Tottenham Hotspur. Today, Dein’s former club Arsenal is owned by the holding company of Stan Kroenke. “Abramovich parked his tanks on our lawn and it was firing £50 notes. Funds Struggle to Win Europe’s Most Prestigious Football Trophy The match in Istanbul sees City play Inter Milan, a team owned by a Chinese retail conglomerate that has borrowed heavily from a US asset management firm. Saturday’s prestige final gives Manchester City another chance to become the first club owned by a sovereign-backed firm to win Europe’s top prize, two seasons after it lost to Chelsea, then owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. The team is run by Spanish billionaire Florentino Perez, who is elected by the members who still own the club rather than any rich individual or group of investors. Since 2013, when Paris Saint-Germain first made the quarter finals under Qatari control, Real Madrid boasts the most victories, with five wins. ![]() Manchester United is still considering whether to sell to either local billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, a Qatari group enriched by the Gulf state’s massive natural gas exports, or to a variety of US hedge funds and asset managers.īut clubs owned by investment funds have found success in the Champions League elusive. The spending spree doesn’t look like it’s ending. Funds Build Control Over European Football ![]() ![]() Private-investment firms, such as private equity, sports management groups and alternative asset managers, own or are the major shareholders in 12 clubs, including England’s Chelsea and France’s Lyon. Sovereign-backed investment firms or their subsidiaries now own five clubs, including Manchester City, whose owners have transformed into City Football Group. ![]() The analysis shows how the world’s most popular sport morphed from an expensive bit of fun for local bigwigs into a serious play for power and profit. The victory would follow the surprise golf deal struck this week by Saudi Arabia to team up with the PGA Tour, and would underscore the new era where investors with seemingly endless riches are bidding to reinvent global sports.īloomberg News looked at Europe’s top five domestic leagues to uncover how the ownership across 98 clubs has changed since 2005, when the Glazers completed their takeover of City’s rival Manchester United for close to $1 billion including debt. A year later, the Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment bought Manchester City from a former prime minister of Thailand and promised to bring “the best football players in the world” to the club.įast forward, add at least $2 billion spent on players and the latest training facilities, and Manchester City could become the first state-backed club to triumph in the world’s best-known club competition. A Middle Eastern approach for Manchester United was also dismissed by the club’s US-based owners, the Glazer family. But it might not have turned out that way.īack in 2007, investors from Dubai attempted to buy Liverpool, only to lose out to US rivals. Whether the English team wins or loses in the Champions League final this weekend, it’s probably a matter of when - not if - that happens. Manchester City is on the cusp of proving that it is now the dominant force in European football. ![]()
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