European soccer is a “bigger business than ever,” as the clubs in the continent’s top five leagues brought in $23.7B in revenue in the 2023-24 season -- and American investors have “been eyeing a piece of that pie,” according to Matt Ward-Perkins of CNBC.com. U.S. investors own “fully or in part, the majority of soccer teams” in the English Premier League, including four of the Big Six clubs. According to PitchBook research, more than 36 of clubs in Europe’s five biggest leagues “now have private equity, venture capital or private debt participation” through majority or minority stakes, including a majority of EPL clubs. Many private equity investors in soccer have “looked to the multi-club ownership model to boost their investments.” But the “increasing prevalence” of multi-club ownership has “risked the ire of regulators.” The growth of soccer revenues has “slowed in recent years.” Deloitte said that it sees income “plateauing” in the 2025-26 season on the “back of slowing growth in the value of sports media rights.” That has left commercial revenue -- up 6% in the 2023-24 season, per Deloitte -- as a “main driver, as clubs clinched new sponsorship deals and looked to utilize stadiums for non-soccer events.” The search for growth in revenues “could see more clubs holding regular matches overseas” (CNBC.com, 8/19).
BEST OF THE BEST: According to Deloitte, 20 teams combined to earn more than $8.5B in commercial revenue in 23-24 season. In L.A., Kevin Baxter notes that has “allowed the EPL to outbid others for the top talent, resulting in deeper rosters and a level of play no other league can match.” Other leagues “may have one or two better teams” -- but top to bottom, “no league is as competitive as the EPL.” CNBC said that is why EPL games are broadcast in 189 countries to a “potential audience of 4.7 billion people,” part of an international and domestic broadcast package valued at $5.1B a season. The revenue growth that EPL “has enjoyed” in the three decades since is “well beyond the wildest dreams of the league’s founding fathers.” That has “turned around an exodus of top players out of England;” now nearly three-quarters of EPL players are foreign-born. But in the league, on any given weekend, every game is “in doubt.” Baxter: “The challenge now for the Premier League is staying on top” (L.A. TIMES, 8/19).
