The European Club Football Investment Landscape
Published on 21 Aug, 2024
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European football has seen an increase in dealmaking and private investment over recent years. About 38% of clubs in Europe have connections to private capital investors. Multi-club Ownership (MCO) structures have more than doubled over the last decade, and private capital investors have made it the centerpiece of their strategy. An MCO structure, as the name implies, is one in which a party owns investment holdings in more than one football club as a minority or majority shareholder. According to Pitchbook, as of the 2023–24 season, almost 42% of the "Big Five" European clubs were a part of an MCO framework. Private capital sponsors with headquarters in the US are frequently the most active investors in football-operating MCOs with approximately 60% of the "Big Five" clubs who use an MCO structure have operational involvement from the US. Ares Management, Silver Lake, 777 Partners, BlueCo, Pacific Media Group, RedBird Capital Partners, Arctos Sports Partners, MSP Sports Capital are some private capital sponsors currently investing in MCOs.