Jason Stephens’ Post

⚽️ Morning Snapshot 👔 Jorge de la Vega, commercial and marketing director, has been named by LALIGA as the deputy to the General Executive Directorate. 👔 Frank Arnesen will join the PSV Supervisory Board on October 30. The 67-year-old Dane replaces Hans van Breukelen, marking his second term in the board. 🎰 The Swedish Professional Football Leagues, in collaboration with mainsponsor Unibet and Spelfriheten , have visited two-thirds of Allsvenskan and Superettan clubs. The objective was to educate players and managers on gambling risks, seeking help, and identifying gambling problem signs. 💰 C.A. Osasuna reported a €5.1 million post-tax loss for the 2022/23 season. 🤝 Sport Lisboa e Benfica have entered their first partnership in India with I-League club Sreenidi Deccan Football Club. The Portuguese club will embed coaches in Sreenidi Deccan's program to oversee player development. #Partnership #Broadcasting #SportsBusiness #Commercial #Sponsorship #Football #SportsBiz #Finance #People #Data #Tech #Intelligence #Investment

MCO Links through Family - Aston Villa & CFG, two stories. Aston Villa New Club Partnership with Spanish 3rd tier club Real Union, a founding member of LaLiga Unai Emery brought a majority stake back in 2021. Emery's grandfather, Antonio, played 110 games as a GK for the Spanish club from 1928-1935. Emery's father, Juan, also a GK played 15 games for Union from 1957-59. V Sports partnership will partner with Emery to help develop technical and coaching methodologies, whilst also involving collaboration on areas including performance and data.   Does this type of collaboration (Manger/Emery & Employer/V Sports) suggest they have a long term commitment to each other. V Sports also formed a club partnership with Zed FC of Egypt, Zed FC is owned by Nassef Sawiris Brother Naguib. -- CFG Back in 2017 when PEP Guardiola joined City, a condition that CFG purchased Girona with ‘Girona Football Group’, the agency owned by PEP Brother PERE, together they purchased 44.3% each with the remaining stake owned by the Girona fans’ association. 2023 CFG own 47%, Girona Football Group (PERE) 16% and Marcelo Claure 35%, 2% Fans Association, Marcelo Claure brought Pere Guardiola shares, but interesting, Marcelo Claure is the owner of Club Boliviar, another club within the CFG umbrella. #Footballbusiness

Do you know which is the best football academy in the world? The winner is... ✔ The ranking of CIES Football Observatory. ❓ How does it work? It’s based on the market value of the players who grew up in a certain club. Players must be playing in one of the more than 50 professional leagues around the world. ✅ The results 1. Sport Lisboa e Benfica: €670m 2. Chelsea Football Club: €630m 3. FC Barcelona: €581m 4. AFC Ajax: €555m 5. Manchester City Football Club: €510m ❗ #Brazil has 3 teams in the top 10: 7. São Paulo Futebol Clube: €474m 8. Santos Futebol Clube: €444m 9. Clube de Regatas do Flamengo: €438m ❓ Still wondering why international investors are buying Brazilian clubs? ✅ Final Thoughts Every club owner should be obsessed with the academy. 👉 For example, the financial sustainability of a club can come from the Academy. But it is also the pride of offering young players state-of-the-art facilities and coaches who aim to develop not only talent but also people with strong values. ❓ Which club will dominate this ranking ten years from now? #linkedinsports  #sportsbiz #footballbusiness

I loved reading this scoop about Sport Lisboa e Benfica by Sportico. Another club which I admire for its fantastic transfer strategy and top-class academy. This club has generated over €1 billion in transfer income since 2010-11. Their impeccable academy and scouting network have led to huge profits like Joao Felix (€126m to Atletico Madrid), Ruben Dias (€68m to Manchester City), David Luiz, Angel Di Maria, Pablo Aimar and most recently Darwin Nunez (€41m profit to Liverpool). Not just Latin America, but Benfica have shown extensive proficiency in scouting from European nations and selling the players at a profit. A few of them are Nemanja Matic (€5m from Chelsea, then sold for €25m), Jan Oblak (€4m from NK Olimpija, sold for €16m), Victor Lindelof (€35m profit to Manchester United). Source ESPN This story is about another set of US investors looking to buy a stake in the European clubs. Safe to say, their transfer income alone counts for a massive share of revenue for the Eagles! - Crescent Capital managing partners Mark Attanasio and Jean-Marc Chapus are negotiating to acquire about 25% of Portuguese soccer club SL Benfica. - Benfica is Portugal's most valuable soccer team, publicly traded as Sport Lisboa e Benfica Futebol SAD. - They are buying the stake from a private shareholder and investing personally, not via Crescent Capital. - The deal includes only the soccer team, not other Benfica sports clubs. - Benfica is valued at $675 million, with fiscal 2023 revenue of $215 million and assets of $614 million. - Benfica has won 38 Primeira Liga titles, and two European Cups, and regularly competes in the UEFA Champions League. - Previous attempts by American investor John Textor to acquire a stake fell through in 2021. - Attanasio and Chapus founded Crescent Capital in 1991, which now manages over $40 billion in assets. - Attanasio, who also owns the Milwaukee Brewers, has grown the team's value from $223 million in 2005 to $1.6 billion. #BenficaSAD #footballnews

𝗙𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗦’ 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 - Liga Portugal 🇵🇹 Explore the Liga Portugal statistics with a focus on top strikers, clubs and U21 players, all accessed through FACTS’ (average) Player Level. The Portuguese first tier is known for bringing through young talents with clubs like Benfica, Sporting Lisbon and Porto often selling their youngsters for big fees. Currently, super agency Gestifute is the best-represented agency in Liga Portugal with 19 players, followed by Proeleven S.A., MadeInFootball, Team of Future, PromoSport and Promoesport. Swipe to find out! 📲 #LigaPortugal #DataInsights #FootballData #FootballAnalysis #FootballAgents #FACTSconsultancy

TransferRoom is a tool that really, really makes us wish we worked for a club rather than being independent. Well, almost! Would love to see this used live and in a real life situation, by a club. Great news that the deal with Norsk Toppfotball / Norwegian Professional Football League (NPFL) has been extended, very important for the clubs in Eliteserien and OBOS-ligaen. #TransferRoom #TransferWindow #FootballBusiness #FootballAgents #Scouting #TransferNews

It's extremely complex to observe and analyse the number of connections between investment groups and the multiple clubs they own, or that they have a considerable stake on. But even more complicated than that, is to understand the different strategies that are being used in order to "beat" the UEFA Ownership rules, and, in consequence, achieve an even greater influence in the targeted football clubs - as it's showcased in this example. These type of strategies should be accounted by UEFA and its regulations. Otherwise, the integrity of the sport is taking a big, big risk.

The City Football Group (CFG), a holding company predominantly owned by the Abu Dhabi United Group with an 81% majority stake, oversees various association football clubs, including Manchester City, New York City FC, Melbourne City FC, and Girona FC. However, the UEFA league regulations, particularly Article 5 concerning the integrity of the competition and multi-club ownership, pose a significant challenge for CFG. According to Article 5 of the UEFA regulations, "No club participating in a UEFA club competition may, either directly or indirectly, hold or deal in the securities or shares of any other club participating in a UEFA club competition." As both Manchester City and Girona FC have qualified for the competition, CFG may find itself in a dilemma as it currently holds stakes in both clubs. This situation raises questions about CFG's foresight and strategic planning. It is plausible that when CFG initially acquired Girona FC, they did not anticipate the club qualifying for the prestigious UEFA club competition. As a result, CFG may now face pressure to divest its stake in Girona FC to comply with UEFA regulations and uphold the integrity of the competition. In hindsight, CFG may need to reassess its approach to multi-club ownership and consider potential conflicts or regulatory issues that could arise in the future. This situation highlights the complexities and challenges associated with managing multiple football clubs under one umbrella organization, particularly in the highly regulated environment of European football competitions. #cityfootballgroup #UEFA #Manchestercityfc #Gironafc

How to Beat UEFA Ownership Rules - Use the same people and form a new company. * AC Milan and Toulouse owners RedBird are close to finalising (90% complete) the sale of RedBird 85% stake in French club Toulouse to another American investment firm, OTRO Capital. * OTRO Capital which specialises in sports and media, was founded 2023 by three RedBird Capital executives (Alec Scheiner, Niraj Shah & Isaac Halyard) whom all resigned from the RedBird board (aug 2023) to form OTRO Capital so that they can navigate UEFA’s rules over multi-club ownership and European competition. * OTRO three co founding partners have been instrumental for RedBird since 2016 in securing deals in AC Milan, Fenway Sports Group & Toulouse FC. * Alec Scheiner will continue to serve on the Board of Directors of FSG (Owners of Liverpool FC) * All three have gained extensive experience in major sporting organisations across the globe including Dallas Cowboys, Cleveland Browns, IPL Team Rajasthan Royals and LeBron James SpringHill Company. * In 2023, OTRO partners invested €200M into F1 team Alpine F1 for 24% stake. Otro Partners includes sports stars Trent Alexander-Arnold (TAA), Juan Mata, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Rory McIlroy and Anthony Joshua, Three Questions  ?: Does OTRO investment in Toulouse FC include a silent partner TAA (Liverpool player). ?: By using the same people and forming a new company, will this change the level of influence between AC Milan & Toulouse FC. ?: As Alec Scheiner continues to sit on the board of FSG could this be considered a conflict of interest. #footballbusiness #footballfinance #Multiclubownership

In scouting, it's not always about taking immediate risks in player acquisitions. Instead, leveraging knowledge enables one to capitalize on opportunities over time. Strategic planning, particularly in the medium to long term, is essential for effective management of a scouting department. 🏟️ Cultivate knowledge for future utilization. (Be present in live football) 📝 Assess and monitor player potential diligently. (Invest time in your data base) 🟢 Secure players at optimal times to enhance squad dynamics. (Go for the player at the right time)