Day 37 – Team Ownership
Lesson
Topic Point: Ownership of soccer clubs evolved over the 20th century.Clubs were initially formed in the late 1800s as associations for the localprincipality and managed by local committees. They were literally owned by thetown. As the game spread through Europe in the early 1900s, some clubs wereheavily managed (and owned) by individuals or families that could afford tobankroll the facilities and players. This era also included a ‘salary cap’ ofits own nature.
After World War II, Europe had widespreaddevastation. Soccer was an outlet for healing, pride, and ultimatelyprosperity. More independent, wealthy businessman and families took over clubmanagement and rebuilt facilities. During this time, the Players’ Union becamemore organized and influential, and successfully abolished the maximum player’swage in 1961. As clubs no longer had complete control over players, ownershipmodels evolved so clubs could compete to recruit the best talent.
The 1970s saw media and sponsorship enterthe equation. The FA allowed logos on jerseys in 1977. Through the 1980s and1990s, the game flourished everywhere (except the United States!) and dealswere forged of all nature: television and print media, sponsorships, and otherpartnerships. The EPL was formed in 1992; while there was always a multi-tiersystem, naming the top tier in England the Premier League was a brandingdecision where the impact is seen globally today. Many clubs are now owned by avariety of wealthy individuals or investment groups. A few clubs in the toptier, and more in the lower tiers, have independent and local ownership. Despitethe evolving ownership structure and money involved, the teams stay in theirlocation – a club is very rarely moved.s
Ted Lasso: While not impossible, the ownership structure of AFC Richmond israre these days. Rebecca Welton is a 97.1% owner of AFC Richmond (there is aminority ownership pair, “the Milk sisters”, that own 2.9% that is ultimately purchasedby Rupert Manion). Rebecca becomes the sole owner by the end of season 2, andthen transfers 49% of ownership to residents of Richmond. We do not know thefinancial aspects of that ownership restructure.
Soccer-related note: The top tier of professional football in Spain, La Liga, has avariety of ownership structures for its clubs. Barcelona and Real Madrid,arguably the two most popular clubs in Spain with a huge following worldwide,are owned by their ‘socios’ or members, and are therefore supporter-ownedclubs.
American Sports comparison: The only professional sports club in the United States that ismember or community-owned is the NFL’s Green Bay Packers. The Packers will holdpublic stock sales to raise revenue for things such as stadium improvements.The fans’ investment in the team does not appreciate nor do they receivefinancial dividends.
Some teams may be owned by publicly tradedcorporations. The New York Knicks and New York Rangers are owned by MadisonSquare Garden Sports Corporation which is publicly traded. However, 18-20% ofthe company is owned by the Dolan Family Trust and holds voting control, withJames Doaln as the Chairman and CEO of the company.
Interactive:
Below are a few references and resources listing the ownership of prominent European clubs. Some are family or individual-owned; some (Spain and Germany) are member-owned so control over decisions for the club is retained locally. Included is a reference to member- or fan-owned clubs across multiple sports and countries. Interestingly, the Green Bay Packers ownership model was banned by the NFL, but the Packers ownership structure was grandfathered into the NFL ownership regulations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_owners_of_English_football_clubs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fan-owned_sports_teams
0 Comments