If you’re FC Barcelona, do you want the good news first, or bad news? The good news is that, according to Deloitte’s annual report for the world's richest soccer teams 2021, Barcelona was the highest-earning club in 2020! The bad news is that total revenue was decreased by nearly $153 million, a precipitous fall of 15 percent from 2019’s earnings. Oh, and you’re also $1.46 billion in debt.
World soccer's governing body FIFA says players who feature in any breakaway European Super League would be banned from playing in FIFA competitions, including the World Cup.
In a joint statement with European governing body UEFA and the other five continental confederations on Thursday, FIFA said they would not recognize any such breakaway.
Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has said UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin is weighing up whether to stage the European Championship in one country this year rather than across the continent as planned due to COVID-19 concerns.
However, UEFA responded by saying it was continuing to work on existing plans for 12 countries to host the tournament. The 24-nation event, a major revenue generator for European football's governing body and the national federations, was postponed by 12 months due to the pandemic.
Montreal's MLS club bid adieu to the Impact nickname Thursday and rebranded as Club de Foot Montreal, or CF Montreal for short.
The club made the announcement and unveiled a new logo during a virtual press conference.
When Spain's soccer federation signed a lucrative deal in 2019 to export its rebooted Super Cup to Saudi Arabia, they did not envisage matches in empty stadiums across southern Spain and tired teams negotiating record snowfall in order to get to them.
But that is what they will get when the mini-tournament begins on Wednesday after coronavirus restrictions in Spain and the gulf state forced organizers to overhaul their initial plans and re-think the competition to fit today's unprecedented times.
Elite women’s sports are predicted to generate $1 billion in revenue in 2021.
With just a fraction of the investment dollars and comparatively paltry marketing and promotional budgets compared to those allocated to men’s sports, this is conceivably a conservative estimate. As sport emerges from the challenges imposed by COVID-19, women’s sports are becoming a lucrative business opportunity. Don’t believe us? You’re not alone.
2020 has been a tough year financially both for clubs and for players.
The economic effect of the COVID-19 pandemic has seen transfer values deflate, with the value of many players decreasing independent of their form on the pitch by 10-20 percent.
For clubs this means their assets are worth less to go with a sharp decrease in revenue caused by matches without fans. For players, this means their skills are worth less as well as a decrease in salaries.
Due to the scheduling havoc wreaked by COVID-19 and the resulting extension of the 2019-20 season, the summer transfer was extended until Oct. 5, but when does the January transfer window 2021 open? It’s been a wild ride, but some semblance of normality has returned to European football with the January transfer window set to open on Saturday, Jan. 2 and close on Monday, Feb. 1.
Has the January transfer window changed?
Lawyers are gearing up to do battle over the estate of Diego Maradona, estimated at between $10 million and $40 million and disputed by the soccer great's children, ex-partners and many others.
The legal wrangling began within days of Maradona's death from a heart attack in Buenos Aires on Nov. 25.
"I do not know if they are not hurting sufficiently or if they wanted to be the first in line, but it's insane because everyone will be able to participate," said lawyer Mauricio Dalessandro, who worked with Maradona for several years.