Football offers unrivalled brand loyalty, no chance of defection, predictable and recurring revenues and new ways to leverage value - Private Equities lust for European football is here to stay

You have got it all wrong if you think that Private Equity showing up in European Football is a matter of potential bargain deals and replacing cash with cheap debt on the balance-sheets of clubs.

According to Dr. Dan Plumley and Dr. Rob Wilson from Sheffield Hallam University the private equity industry have spotted quite a few of the key elements in the football industry essential to how and where they invest.

”Clubs are essentially recession proof assets. Sport is an inelastic product, not a luxury but a necessity for many...This provides private equity and its supporting cast with a longer game to play in the sporting investment stakes,” they write.

Private Equity might take a different approach going into the industry, where “…the appeal of leagues over clubs is a longer-term approach to growth as they are less volatile performance wise.”

One thing could cool down private equity’s future interest in the industry: regulatory bodies that will lay down commercial frameworks that will govern the future of their sports.