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𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 🤝 Insideworldfootball, a leading resource for news and information on the business and politics of world football, will be joining #SoccerexEurope as a Media Partner! ⚽ 🇳🇱 🔹 Secure your ticket to #SoccerexEurope on 19-21 May, at the Johan Cruijff ArenA 👉 https://lnkd.in/dfcQZhX4 #Soccerex #SoccerexEurope

🌍💰The top 15 women’s clubs in Europe have passed the €100 million revenue mark for the first time, with cumulative revenues of €116.6 million in the 2023/24 season – a 35% year-on-year growth. This is the third year the Deloitte Football Money League has been published for women’s clubs and for a third consecutive year, FC Barcelona Femení are top, generating €17.9 million in revenue, a 26% increase from the 2022/23 season. Arsenal Women rank second with revenues of €17.9 million, having generated a 64% and 48% increase to matchday and commercial revenues in the 2023/24 season. Chelsea Women (€13.4 million) rank third, followed by Manchester United Women (€10.7 million), as well as Real Madrid Femenino (€10.5 million). Eight of the top 15 women’s clubs were from the Women’s Super League (WSL) which Deloitte said will benefit this season from the new Barclays sponsorship, reported to have doubled in value to £15 million a year. Deloitte also highlighted the increasing revenue importance of the Women’s Champions League and its prize money and broadcast revenue. All of the seven non-English clubs in the top 15 participated in the group stage Tim Bridge, lead partner for the Deloitte Sports Business Group, said: “The 35% growth in revenues across the 2023/24 season is an impressive reflection of the growth of women’s football across some of its leading markets. Investors and leaders are now looking beyond just revenues and increasing their focus towards the sustainability and growth of clubs.” Breaking the revenue sources down, commercial revenue accounted 66% of the total, while broadcast and matchday revenues accounted for 17%. Deloitte highlight a growing match day attendance in many leagues with the WSL and Women’s Championship reported a cumulative attendance of over one million for the first time during the 2023/24 season. This has been boosted by clubs hosting their women’s teams increasingly in their main stadia during the 2023/24 season. Arsenal played six WSL matches at Emirates Stadium, breaking the WSL attendance record three times during the season. Excluding Liga F, leagues in each of the ‘big five’ European football markets currently have a title sponsor. Meanwhile, all leagues – excluding Serie A Femminile – have multi-year, multi-million-Euro broadcast rights agreements, said Deloitte. The WSL and Liga F lead the way with broadcast deals with annual values of €8.7 million and €7 million, respectively. “The expansion of the UEFA Women’s Champions League and the FIFA Club World Cup demonstrates the demand for more games and competition. Pairing this with developing existing competitions, the introduction of new governance, and further investment can supercharge the participation in, professionalisation, and popularity of the women’s game for the long-term,” said Bridge. #footballbusiness #womensfootball #FCBarcelona #Finance #sportsbusiness

For years, Roja Directa was the go-to site for millions of fans looking to stream football matches for free. Behind the scenes, however, it was a business raking in millions through illegal streams and ad revenue. Now, nearly a decade after legal battles began, justice has caught up. A commercial court in A Coruña has ordered Roja Directa’s parent company, Puerto 80 Projects, and its director, Igor Seoane, to pay €31.6 million in damages to Grup MediaPro for illegally pirating football broadcasts, including LaLiga matches from the 2014/15 season. The court found Puerto 80 and Seoane jointly and severally liable for €15.8 million of the damages, calculated based on what the company would have paid for legitimate access to the broadcast signal. This ruling, nearly a decade after legal proceedings began, marks a significant victory for intellectual property rights in football. Roja Directa, once infamous for providing free illegal streams of premium sports content, reportedly generated massive revenues—just one Puerto 80 account earned over €11 million through ads and referral commissions. Now, with this €31.6 million judgment, the cost of piracy has finally caught up with the company. Beyond financial penalties, Seoane faces potential jail time, with LaLiga and Grup MediaPro pursuing a six-year sentence. Meanwhile, Puerto 80 has been ordered to deposit a €4 million bond to prepare for further liabilities. Despite these actions, Roja Directa continues its operations outside Spain, illustrating the global challenge of tackling digital piracy. This case is more than a legal milestone—it’s a wake-up call for the football industry. #footballbusiness #Rojadirecta #LaLiga #Piracy #footballnews #Spanishfootball

In a joint statement, 22 organisations from human rights bodies to trade unions and fan groups, have condemned #FIFA’s award of 2034 #WorldCup hosting to #SaudiArabia saying that it “marks a moment of great danger”. The statement says: “It is evident that without urgent action and comprehensive reforms, the 2034 World Cup will be tarnished by repression, discrimination and exploitation on a massive scale.” Just as a cloud hung over the hosting of the #Qatar2022 World Cup, Saudi Arabia 2034 and FIFA look set for another 10 years of scrutiny on issues from migrant worker safety and freedom of movement, to #LGBTQ+ inclusion, #genderequality and environmental sustainability. Wherever you look in the panoply of human rights issues, Saudi Arabia’s civil record is poor while FIFA’s actions are similarly dismissive of its own stated policies. The 2034 World Cup hosting, with the world’s attention focussed on the country, could prove the catalyst and “should mark a moment for change”, said the statement. FIFA summarily dismissed human rights issues in its painfully skewed bid evaluation, much to the surprise of the world and the shamefully stunned silence of its federations who privately expressed concern but publicly towed the company line. Law firm Clifford Chance, who conducted a supposedly independent human rights risk assessment, presented a report that was widely ridiculed and while it may have won them business in Saudi, it has damaged their reputation elsewhere. “Many of us have long highlighted the severe risks posed by Saudi Arabia’s hosting of mega-sporting events. By awarding the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia without meaningful protections, FIFA has today decided both to ignore our warnings and discard its own human rights policies,” said the statement. “FIFA can never claim that it did not know the severity of the risks of hosting its flagship event in a country with such weak human rights protections. Nor can the national Football Associations voting to approve it. Today, there is no shortage of evidence of migrant workers being exploited and subjected to racism, activists sentenced to decades in prison for expressing themselves peacefully, women and LGBTI people facing legalized discrimination, or residents forcibly evicted to make way for state projects.” “By pursuing today’s decision regardless of the known risks, FIFA will bear a heavy responsibility for much of what follows,” said the statement. “In the process of awarding the 2034 World Cup, FIFA’s human rights policies have been exposed as a sham.” The signatories to the statement say that they will not let the issues quietly be pushed under FIFA’s horribly bumpy carpet. “In the decade ahead we will mobilize the human rights community across the globe to ensure the violations and abuses of this World Cup are not ignored, and press for the fundamental changes needed to protect lives and expand freedoms.“

A more creative approach to financial sustainability rules is clearly required. Is the Premier League getting their with their two new systems trialling next season? https://lnkd.in/gugnE-yA

Man City legally challenge Premier League financial rules claiming ‘a tyranny of the majority’ https://lnkd.in/gSK2wkUS

A more creative approach to financial sustainability rules is clearly required. Is the Premier League getting their with their two new systems trialling next season? https://lnkd.in/gugnE-yA

Man City legally challenge Premier League financial rules claiming ‘a tyranny of the majority’ https://lnkd.in/gSK2wkUS