Key Points
- European soccer revenues have increased rapidly over the past two decades.
- Leagues in Italy and Spain are planning games overseas in a bid to find growth.
European soccer is a bigger business than ever, with clubs in the continent’s five top leagues raking in 20.4 billion euros ($23.7 billion) in revenue in the 2023-2024 season — and American investors have been eyeing a piece of that pie. U.S. investors now own, fully or in part, the majority of soccer teams in England’s Premier League. That now includes four of the traditional Big Six clubs, with Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal all attracting U.S. investment. Rapid growth in revenues has been the key attraction. In the 1996-97 season, when the Premier League was established in England, revenues across the five biggest European leagues totaled 2.5 billion euros, according to Deloitte analysis. In 2023-24, that figure ballooned by 750%. That growth has led to sharp increases in valuations for Europe’s biggest soccer teams. The Glazer family, which also owns the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, bought Manchester United for £790 million ($1.07 billion) in 2005. In 2024, a minority stake sale to billionaire Jim Ratcliffe pegged the club at around £5 billion, or the biggest valuation in world soccer. Kieran Maguire, associate professor in football finance at the University of Liverpool, told CNBC on Wednesday that the rising levels of U.S. ownership in European soccer have been driven by higher wealth aggregation Stateside. “It’s actually a bit of a no brainer … what else you can do with your cash? You can only have so many helicopters, you can only have so many super yachts.” According to Maguire, the small number of top professional sports teams available to purchase has also contributed to rising demand, with investors unable to meet the multi-billion dollar price tags attached to NFL or NBA teams in the U.S. looking to European soccer as an alternative. Private equity 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 clubs in the Premier League, according to PitchBook research. The data shows a sharp increase in M & A deal activity in European soccer clubs, from just 66.7 million euros in 2018 to almost 2.2 billion euros in 2024. Many private equity investors in soccer have looked to the multi-club ownership model to boost their investments. Speaking to CNBC, PitchBook Senior EMEA Private Capital Analyst Nicolas Moura said many U.S. investors want to “build a variety of different football clubs,” and that the model can have marketing and financial benefits. But the increasing prevalence of multi-club ownership has risked the ire of regulators, with Moura saying that European soccer body UEFA is “starting to crack down on clubs.” This summer, England’s Crystal Palace was barred from participating in UEFA’s Europa League competition due to a breach of multi-club ownership rules. American businessman John Textor owns a stake in the English club as well as in France’s Lyon, which also qualified for the competition. Moura says the decision — which Crystal Palace labelled as an “injustice” — could become more of an issue as more clubs involved in multi-club structures move into Europe’s top divisions. What’s next? The growth of soccer revenues has slowed in recent years, with Deloitte saying 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. Moura says lots of U.S. private equity investors are “looking to do their stands, their entire stadiums” in a bid to diversify away from broadcast income. The search for growth in commercial and match day revenues could see more clubs holding regular matches overseas. Spain’s La Liga will take its first regular season game abroad this season, as current champions Barcelona prepare to play Villareal in Miami. Italy’s Serie A is also considering an international game, with the country’s governing body approving plans for a match in Australia. Until now, games in domestic leagues have not been allowed to be played outside of their home country, with global governing body FIFA considering a formal change to its rules on overseas matches. Maguire says Premier League clubs will eventually look to hold games overseas to compete with rival European leagues, and that the money generated will mean games “will be sold to the fan base … effectively as a fait accompli.” The Premier League has not publicly entertained the idea of taking regular season games out of England, with CEO Richard Masters telling CNBC the league is “very different” from American peers when it comes to international games.
