Before the Financial Fair Play spending limitations were put
into play, it was a no-brainer for anyone with enough money and love for the
game to want to own a soccer club. Seriously, who doesn’t dream of owning a
sports team? Prior to FFP, it was not unusual for billionaire owners to take a
fan driven approach and seek out winning at all costs, rather than look at the
club as a business venture. With exceptions from top tier teams, turning a
profit was not a guarantee. The owners knew this though and accepted it because
it meant that they could spend any amount they wanted to attract big name
players with championship aspirations.
When Financial Fair Play was introduced, dreams of a owning a
team started to look more like a nightmare. You may be wondering: why would a
set of financial restrictions that prevent teams from spiraling out of control
with debt scare away potential new owners? Any businessman with a brain would love
to have a floor in place that would prevent massive debt in an uncertain, ever
changing market. But sports are different. Money is a motivating factor for
players and owners are willing to spend ridiculous amounts of money to bring in
players to win games. When the ability to spend unlimited amounts of money is
stripped, part of being an owner is stripped.
There is a common thought around the soccer community that
states that FFP has locked teams in their current tiers without much hope of
improving. People think this because the top tier teams, who already have the
best players, are making the most money and can continue to outspend all of the
lower tier teams. On the other hand, the bottom tier teams in smaller markets
can only spend as much as they bring in, which is no where near the top teams.
This makes them unable to attract star players, which essentially prevents them
from improving and continues the trend of them being unable to compete with top
teams. From a potential new owner’s perspective, the only teams that will
become available would be the lower tier teams, and why would you want to buy a
team that is stuck being at the bottom of the standings without being able to
overspend for better players?
If you were in a position to buy a soccer team, would your
interests be turned away because of FFP? How would your decision process differ
if you wanted to own a team prior to FFP compared to currently with FFP?
To answer your question, it would depend in which league I was buying a teams and how much money I would have to spend. There would be little hope in buying a team in the EPL with a very small amount of money to compete against the giants like Man United and Chelsea. When I was growing up, I liked the idea of having no salary cap when compared to American football and basketball when there was a salary cap and teams could only have so many players. I liked the idea that a team could have Kobe, Lebron and Dwight Howard all on one team, while also having enough money to get great other players to support them. But, after watching the same teams make Champions league and general the same teams winning the league titles in football leagues all over the world, it really does make me want to see there be a salary cap put into place world wide. I would like to look at all twenty teams in La Liga as having a chance to win La Liga instead of just a three or four team league like it currently is.
ReplyDeleteGarrett Closs
I believe that if my primary goal were to make money then it would matter to me the effect that FFP would play, however I also agree with Garrett's comment above, this allows for an option of variety. The great joy of watching sports is that it's so unpredictable and if you constantly see the same players and the same teams succeeding year after year the excitement starts to wear off. - Daniel Dzhurayev
ReplyDeleteI think that my decision to buy a team would depend on the mindset of the buyer when intending on purchasing a club. If a buyer wanted to purchase a club purely because of being a fan and wanting their name on that organization then no I would not want to buy lower tier team. However, if the mindset was a business mindset in hopes of maximizing all investments and improving skills/placement within the league then yes I would purchase it regarding the FFP and would do all I can to better the leagues chances. Ali Cohen
ReplyDeleteNo way am I buying a club right now. As an owner, I want to have some assurances with my investment, and the FFP and constantly changing of the rules, is a major turnoff. You can see this is true with a decrease in major investments from new owners in the past 3 years.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that it is a poor time to invest in European football teams because you have little control over their successes. However owners can in fact make a difference on the success of clubs. Before Manchester City were bought by their current owner they were a mediocre team at best, but after his massive investments, they won the league. You cannot do this anymore, however owners can find ways past FFP by spending huge amounts on stadiums and developing youth programs to allow themselves to buy higher quality players. It is a much longer process for the small clubs to reach the top now, but it can still be done with long term investment.
ReplyDelete