German clubs walk away from €2bn private equity deal for stake in their media rights
May 25 – The German Football League (DFL) has walked away from a potential €2 billion of private equity funding for a stake in the Bundesliga’s media rights.
Finance
Qataris look to build club ownership portfolio with Santos talks
May 25 – Brazilian club Santos are in negotiation with Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) for a potential sale or stake in the club.
Chilean league looks to private equity markets for new money
May 24 – In Brazil leading clubs are pushing to take control of all their media and commercial rights with the construction of a new league entity. In Chile, the desire for new and increased funding is similar though the professional league is following more of a European model.
Guardiola tells regulators to speed up ruling on financial doping charges
May 24 – Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has said that he wants the 115 Premier League financial charges against the club to be dealt with “as soon as possible”.
Sheikh Jassim puts more cash down in run-off with Sir Jim for Man Utd
May 17 – Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar has reportedly submitted an improved offer in the latest bid manoeuvring around the sale of Manchester United. The new offer is understood to be in discussion between the Glazer family and the Raine Group, the New York-based investment bank, who are handling the sale.
OL Groupe and Michelle Kang combine to form first women’s multi-club ownership group
May 17 – Multi-team ownership is coming to the women’s club game globally with the announcement of a deal between OL Groupe, owner of Olympique Lyonnais, John Textor’s Eagle Football Holdings, majority owner of OL Groupe and MicheleKang (pictured), owner of the Washington Spirit who play in the NWSL.
Haaland vs Vinicius: World’s highest valued players face off in football’s biggest club comp
May 16 – Manchester City’s Erling Haaland and Real Madrid’s Vinícius Júnior head a worldwide evaluation of player transfer values at €200 million.
Real Madrid lose €400m claim against IPIC for ending its deal to sponsor Bernabéu revamp
May 15 – Real Madrid have lost a claim for €400 million in the Court of International Trade in Paris for the breaking of a sponsorship agreement with the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) in 2017.
Big clubs, big money. PSG stock on the block, Man Utd still to name preferred bidder
May 12 – While the Manchester United sale process closes in on naming a preferred bidder another of Europe’s biggest clubs looks to be readying for a sale of stock.
EA Sports’ FIFA franchise delivers a 31% revenue bump as license comes to an end
May 12 – EA Sports FIFA video game, in the last season of its license of the FIFA name, has delivered a huge bonus for the gaming giant.
Brera rebrands North Macedonia’s FC Akademija Pandev as gateway to big money player sales
May 10 – Brera Holdings has completed its acquisition of North Macedonia’s FC Akademija Pandev. The company acquired 90% of the club’s shares, with the value set at €600,000. The new owners said the club will be renamed Brera FC.
Bundesliga private equity raise enters next bidding round as KKR dropped
May 9 – The on-off German Bundesliga foray into raising private equity finance via a sell-off of a stake in its media rights, has seen US private equity firm KKR drop out of the latest round of bidding, according to reports.
City Football Group add Brazil’s top flight Bahia to stable of club ownership
May 5 – Brazil’s Bahia have become the latest club to join the City Football Group (CFG), the owners of English giants Manchester City.
Televisa breaks out gaming and football businesses into new listed entity
May 5 – Mexican entertainment giant Grupo Televisa is spinning off its betting and football interests into a new business entity that will be separated from its traditional broadcast business.
Ronaldo at $136m is highest earning athlete in world sport, followed by Messi and Mbappe
May 4 – Three footballers top a ranking of the top 10 highest paid athletes in world sport compiled by Forbes magazine.