Investing in football clubs: how you can profit from the beautiful game

Football clubs may often be money pits for oligarchs, but they are also huge global brands, says John Chambers – and investors are now starting to recognise their potential

Spuds Stadium
Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium hosts American Football matches too
(Image credit: © DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP via Getty Images)

Owning football clubs has long been considered an effective way of separating rich men from their fortunes. But if they are just vanity projects for sheikhs and oligarchs, why are shrewd investors such as Nick Train of fund manager Lindsell Train and bankers from JPMorgan getting involved in the business of football?

The past 18 months have been a struggle for all football clubs, owing to the virus-induced absence of fans from grounds – Europe’s top clubs have missed out on some €2bn of revenue over this period. Still, with a return to near-normality this season, that shortfall is likely to prove a relatively small blip in otherwise strong revenue growth over the past few years.

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