Having invested in the clubs, investment funds are now betting on the professional leagues that organize the main national championships, as in Spain, while there have been aborted procedures in Italy Y Germany.
Spain: a confirmed but contested agreement
The agreement of the Spanish Football League (LaLiga) with the CVC investment fund was ratified on December 10. Of the 42 clubs represented, 37 voted in favor and 4 against (Real Madrid, Barcelona, Athletic Bilbao and Ibiza), in addition to one abstention.
The agreement between LaLiga and CVC Capital Partners provides for the creation of a new company called LaLiga Impulso, to which the championship will transfer all its activities and of which CVC will have a stake of around 10%.
With this union, the League intends to raise close to 2 billion euros (US $ 2.263 million) for the signing clubs of the project.
The first deposit of 400 million euros (US $ 452 million) will reach the clubs’ bank accounts “within a few weeks,” according to LaLiga.
The latter agree to allocate 70% of the money to improving their infrastructure, international opening, commercial development, communication strategy and technological innovation. The rest can be used to sign new players and pay off debts.
However, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao, clubs whose owners are the partners, have entered into a confrontation with LaLiga and have already announced that they will go to court.
Italy: at a standstill
Italian clubs, with significant economic problems due to the COVID-19 pandemic, unanimously approved in November 2020 the principle of entry of private investors in the management of television rights, with the promise of obtaining 1.7 billion euros ( US $ 1,923 million).
The entities accepted the offer of three investors also brought by CVC, with the purpose of creating a commercial company in charge of managing and developing the rights.
But the new formal vote required to validate the contract never took place due to opposition that emerged in early 2021 from various clubs, including Juventus, Inter, Napoli and Lazio.
In the spring (boreal), several teams favorable to the arrival of private funds accused Juve and Inter of having torpedoed this initiative due to their parallel participation in the aborted European Super League project.
In fact, the agreement established a ban on Italian clubs from creating other competitions to preserve the interest of Serie A, according to the specialized website Calcio e Finanza.
Meanwhile, the television rights for the next three seasons (2021-2024) have been allocated (mainly to DAZN) for an amount similar to that of the previous years, which has made it no longer urgent to find new financial resources.
Some clubs also feared losing control, as the future business venture will be managed by a manager appointed by the funds.
Although CVC does not really appear now as a possible partner after its commitment in Spain, the president of the Italian League has not yet resigned from this project, the newspaper La Repubblica assured in the middle of the year. Recently, the president of Turin, Urbano Cairo, assured that he agrees.
Germany: an abandoned initiative
In May 2021, the 36 Bundesliga clubs (first and second division) decided to abandon the negotiations started by the German League (DFL) with private equity companies.
The League had gone far enough in discussions with the companies KKR, Bridgepoint and CVC, to grant them 25% of the two subsidiaries to be created: one for media rights and the other for digital rights.
The operation would have generated 500 million euros (US $ 565 million) for the Bundesliga.
The German clubs, culturally very concerned about never relying on investors who may withdraw at any time, mostly rejected these offers.
The General Assembly of the clubs had already rejected the previous year an attempt by the League to violate the sacrosanct law known as “50 + 1”, which prohibits an investor from owning the majority of the shares of a professional entity.
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