There’s a timely pre-season primer from Tony Karon on the financial vagaries of the cut-throat European game, outlining the high-risk strategy of several top clubs as they compete to sign the highest paid players, and launch another bid for domestic and international success.
Citing the “giddily bullish market” in European soccer that belies the state of the current world economy, Karon summarizes where the money comes from (gate receipts, merchandise, TV income and sponsors) and how it’s spent (mostly on transfer fees and players’ wages). It requires huge investment now to take a team to the top of the English Premier League, for example, and the consequences of failing to maintain consistent form can be financially disastrous. Just ask Leeds United, Champions League semifinalists in 2001, now struggling in English soccer’s third tier.
But once a side has sealed its place in the elite, the chances are good that it will stay there, regardless of how much debt it’s saddled with. “In a system where money builds success and success brings in more money, Europe’s richest soccer clubs are probably going to get richer, while the rest will struggle to keep pace.”