Newcastle and Southampton head a new group of Premier League clubs looking to create a multi-club model to mirror Manchester City’s all-conquering City Football Group.
CFG added an eleventh club to their stable last week, acquiring Dutch side NAC Breda to a portfolio that includes teams in Japan, India, Uruguay and Australia.
They are the shining light for the multi-club model but the owners of Brighton, Brentford and Watford also own other clubs. Both Brighton and Brentford’s sister clubs have won league titles recently and the model allows them to benefit from moving players across markets and also consolidate sponsorship and academy opportunities.
It is a market that is growing increasingly popular with Premier League clubs that have the financial muscle that comes with the biggest TV deal in the world.
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Southampton, now under the ownership of Sport Republic, are actively exploring the market to buy stakes in other clubs but arguably the most intriguing possibility is Newcastle’s PIF-led consortium creating their own version of the City operation.
It is understood that PIF want a global presence in football and other sports to follow from their Premier League investment. The Magpies are at the very early stages of a complete overhaul of club operations, with a director of football and CEO both set to be appointed soon alongside sizeable investment in infrastructure, the academy and the stadium.
The initial ambition is to transform Newcastle into a club capable of challenging in the Premier League, but in the medium- to long-term the Saudis want to create a portfolio of clubs which is led by the Magpies in a similar way to Manchester City.
With Chelsea’s sale set to value the club at around £3bn, it is no surprise that those in the takeover game believe the market is buoyant.
Trevor Watkins, the Global Head of Sports at law firm Pinsent Masons, has advised and acted for groups and clubs in numerous acquisitions – including most recently the buy out of Burnley.
He told i: “The model and appetite is there to look at acquisitions. The market is very much alive. There is a lot of demand for anything live entertainment at the moment.
“We are doing work in relation to Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico. There’s not a day that goes by I’m not having a new discussion with an investor group or club who are looking to do something or asking: ‘Where next?’
“What is driving that is consolidation, data sharing and the ability to move players across clubs. With Brexit there’s an opportuiny for some clubs to steal a march on others.
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The last fortnight has seen unprecedented attention on the sale of Chelsea, with huge interest from investors. But experts feel the safer business model is investing in multiple clubs.
FC Analytics CEO Jeremy Steele, whose company advises on takeovers, told i: “The multi-club model is the model. If Premier League clubs aren’t doing it, why? Manchester United don’t have that model yet, Newcastle don’t have that model yet, Everton don’t have that model yet – there’s a number of clubs that don’t and it’s surprising for me.
“People go out and buy clubs but forget you’ve got to do something with them in a consistent way where they’re all integrated. All need to have their own identity and talent on the ground but in terms of objective and mission – it has to be centralised.
“Buying single clubs – you mainly buy it for ego purposes. Buying multiple clubs makes business sense.”
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