Multi-club ownership (MCO) models are becoming common in professional soccer. In the 2023/24 season, just four of the 20 Premier League clubs had controlling owners from the UK. UEFA also found in 2023 that 180 clubs worldwide were part of an MCO group. Global investment in soccer has seen a massive shift from single club […]
Multi-club ownership (MCO) models are becoming common in professional soccer. In the 2023/24 season, just four of the 20 Premier League clubs had controlling owners from the UK. UEFA also found in 2023 that 180 clubs worldwide were part of an MCO group.
Global investment in soccer has seen a massive shift from single club owners. Now, many clubs are part of investor groups that have a say in different teams from different nations. They have stakes or overall controllership of multiple teams. Some of the biggest MCOs are run by corporations. For example, Red Bull GmbH owns RB Leipzig, RB Salzburg, New York Red Bulls and two other teams.
Despite the growing trend of MCOs in soccer clubs, owners, players, clubs and fans rarely benefit.
MCO player pathways rarely pay off
One of the main characteristics of MCOs is the ability to create pathways for elite and high-potential players. Any club in the group can sign a gem and move them between teams to suit their level. Occasionally, this can lead to a big financial reward and good quality players therefore have a natural progression from playing a better standard of soccer.
For instance, Dayot Upamecano rose through the Red Bull Group and became a global star. The French defender joined RB Salzburg from Valenciennes FC’s youth team at the age of 19. He then joined the Bundesliga team RB Leipzig to play at a higher level. Eventually, he was sold to Bayern Munich in 2021 for over $47 million.
However, very few examples of players playing at the bigger and better-quality clubs exist in an MCO-run system.
An estimated 13,000 players were reportedly contracted to clubs in…
Author : Alex Waite
Publish date : 2024-09-03 17:04:56
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Author : soccernews
Publish date : 2024-09-03 17:06:02
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.