Private Equity Investments in Football
- Quentin Bottéon
- Oct 20
- 4 min read
Updated: Oct 27
Sports have changed over the years and became more and more monetized. With evolution of the society, sports clubs always have a fanbase to satisfy and they make many efforts to bring more modernity to their infrastructure and face the competition of other clubs. In order for them to make more profits and satisfy investors, sports clubs have to maintain a good relationship with the fanbase, and this cannot be made without investments. As these investments became more and more important, sports clubs don’t hesitate to turn to private equity investors to meet this need.
The importance of investments for sports clubs
Fan attraction is a huge advantage for clubs that are looking for investments, as it allows clubs to be seen as attractive assets and a reliable revenue stream. It is also important to note that everything relies on the fans. If there is no fan, there is no revenue, nor interest in broadcasting the games. The question to ask then is how to attract the fans and make the games more enjoyable to keep the fans ? Paris-Saint-Germain team has a strong fanbase, author of several outbreaks. But what we can see is that they are really attached to their club. PSG has to reinvent itself and innovate to keep its fans and attract new ones and so do other football clubs. From the fan base, football clubs can imagine various ways of revenue diversification, such as merchandising, broadcasting rights, food and drinks sales.
A lot of investments are made in the structure and the organization in order to provide a unique experience for the fans, such as recruiting staff people, modernizing infrastructure with, for example, new seats, new storefront, high-technologic equipment and training facilities. For example, the Real Madrid football club renovated its Santiago Bernabéu stadium for 900 million of euros. Financed by JP Morgan and Bank of America, these investments were used to modernize the infrastructure and generate new revenues through different activities, such as restauration, concerts and events within the stadium.
How investors focus on before investing
Football clubs face fundraising dilemma that is not easy to manage. Indeed, both external and internal elements, such as rising interest rates, governance challenges or tensions between local fans and owners. The first one poses a threat regarding debt servicing costs, as they increase during a high interest rates period. The second element refers to contradictions that can appear between investors with varying interests. The tensions between fans and owners often occur during football games, having strong consequences for a club. These factors are scrutinised by investors that want to make sure they invest in the most valuable club, in order for their investments to bring value overtime. More precisely, investors look at different aspects that are essential to take into account before making investment decisions :
- Popularity of the club defined by fanbase size
- Revenue diversification
- Media rights track record
- Long-term potential
- Use of infrastructure
- Fan engagement
- Innovation potential
Media rights represents a huge part of clubs revenues, as several billions of contracts are signed with broadcasters. Recently, the Guardian revealed that European’s top clubs are aiming to secure around €5 billion annually from the sale of television rights to Champions League, Europa League and Conference League games. The first media rights tenders are about to be launched soon for the 6 next years. Netflix or Disney could be in the running to broadcast these games. The UEFA president, Aleksander Čeferin, said that there are trying to drive engagement with new audiences by making the most of digital platforms, that refers to the Innovation potential point mentioned earlier.
The case of CVC Capital Partners and LaLiga
In 2021, one of the most important deals in football has come to life. CVC Capital Partners invested 2.1 billion of euros into LaLiga, Spain’s top football league. After negotiating with the clubs, the British private equity firm received the approval from 42 Primera and Segunda clubs. In exchange of the amount invested, CVC Capital Partners secured an 8.2% share in a new media company that manages broadcasting rights for the next 50 years. These investments helped the Spanish clubs to repay their debts, to improve training grounds and stadiums and to invest in youth academies and digital transformation. For example, the investments made by CVC Capital Partners allowed small clubs like Cádiz or Elche to receive tens of millions of euros immediately. An interesting point to note is that a few clubs were not in favour of the deal with the private equity firm. Real Madrid already has a huge global brand, their own TV channel and staff working on sponsorships and digital marketing, as well as enough money to finance their stadium rebuild. They do not see how the deal with CVC Capital Partners could bring value to them.
Conclusion
Private equity in football evolved during the last decades, from watching to taking actions. Usually focused on high-growth sectors like technology or healthcare, private equity firms found a new ground to play on. They see football clubs as assets that they can make growing, in order to generate diversified revenues. It is also a favourable solution for clubs that need huge investments used to reinvent themselves and attract more fans. We could then say that it suits both parties.
References
J. Yarker. (2025). Buyouts. Game on : Private equity’s surging interest in sports
N. Ames. (2025). The Guardian. Clubs target groundbreaking £4.3bn TV rights deal for European football competitions.
A. Jouay. (2025). Cash on the pitch. How private equity took over football.
D. Corrigan. (2022). New York Times. CVC’s €2bn deal, what it means for La Liga and why Real and Barcelona are against it.
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