Hydration Breaks, Ad Breaks
Three minutes. That’s how long play stops, twice a game, at every single one of the 104 matches at the 2026 World Cup. Multiply that out and you get roughly 624 minutes, more than 10 hours, of scheduled pause across…
Revenues
Chelsea’s £262 Million Problem: When Private Equity Met The Beautiful Game
A £2.5 billion takeover. £1.5 billion in transfer spending. The largest single-season loss in Premier League history. And a private equity thesis that is now being stress-tested in real time. When Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly bought Chelsea for £2.5…
Premier League+ Is a Quiet Revolution in Football’s Business Model
A small Singapore pilot. A telco partnership. And a potential rewiring of the £6.78 billion revenue engine that sits at the top of world football. On 26 February 2026, at the FT Business of Football Summit in London, Richard Masters…
Selling Players to Survive: the Old Lady’s Real Problem Isn’t on the Pitch
Juventus just reported a €2.5 million loss. The number looks small. The story behind it isn’t. On the surface, it looks almost manageable. A €2.5 million half-year loss, an €11.1 million operating profit, a wage bill that’s actually been trimmed.…
MLS and Apple’s ‘MLS Season Pass’ is dead
In the high-stakes world of sports broadcasting, « reach » and « revenue » are often at odds. For the last three years, Major League Soccer (MLS) and Apple operated on a « premium-first » philosophy, locking every match behind a standalone MLS Season Pass paywall.…
How FC Barcelona turned El Clásico into a financial strategy
During last Sunday’s El Clásico game, FC Barcelona wore the logo of Ed Sheeran on their shirt for this game only. The shirt will also be for sale as a limited edition. Let’s delve into the origins of this particular…
9 Months Late, Millions Lost: The Business of Barça’s Delay
Barcelona thought they were days from letting ~27,000 fans back into a half-open Spotify Camp Nou. Then the city said no. Inspectors walked the site and found basic safety gaps: emergency exits that weren’t fully ready, missing handrails, signage that hadn’t…
The FIFA Club World Cup: A Goldmine or a Glorified Friendly?
A New Club World Champion The summer of 2025 was big for football. For the first time, the FIFA Club World Cup included 32 teams and was hosted in the United States. Chelsea won the tournament, beating PSG 3-0 in…
When Politics Hit the Pitch: What Trump’s Trade War Means for Football Fans Worldwide
Fans queue outside a Nike store near Wembley Stadium in London, illustrating how global sports brands connect international supply chains to local football fans. Football lovers might soon feel an unexpected squeeze on their wallets, not from club ticket prices…
The Financial Revival of African Football: Opportunities and Challenges
African football has long been a source of immense talent, passion, and cultural significance, yet its financial landscape has historically sometimes struggled to match other regions (such as Europe). This was due to structural challenges, limited investment, and obviously governance…