The beautiful game is big business. Football leagues worldwide are being dominated by clubs which are becoming richer and more powerful. Since the first edition of this book was published in 2003, much has changed in the industry. However the central challenge remains how best football, its leagues and clubs can navigate a path between the logic of the market and the logic of community (social), while also remaining focused on a sporting logic.
In this second edition, author Stephen Morrow offers a critique of football’s economic structure, prevalent models of club ownership and governance, and new approaches to regulation that have emerged. The book also reflects on the Covid-19 pandemic and on ways in which it has illuminated many of the structural weaknesses inherent in football. It also offers an insight into the woman’s game and its financial development in some countries, as well discussing issues such as football’s response to environmental challenges.Drawing on theory and new literature from across relevant academic disciplines, this book seeks to make sense of the current challenges while also putting forward solutions as to how football can continue to harness and build on its social and community significance.
Author(s): Stephen Morrow
Edition: 2
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 298
City: Cham
Foreword
Acknowledgements
Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
List of Exhibits
Introduction
References
1: Football’s Ever-Changing Economics
Competitive Imbalance, Certainty of Outcome and Concentrated Sporting Success
Concentrated Income: Who Earns Wins?
Football’s Television Dependency
Certainty of Outcome: Who Does Care?
Policy and Practice Implications
Up and Down: Yo-Yos, Parachutes and Trampolines
To Those that Have…
The European Super League
Agenda for Change
References
2: Reporting and Communicating the Performance and Value of Football
Financial Statements: Interpreting an Interpretation?
Narrative Communication
Financial Value
Balance Sheet-Based Valuation
Revenue Multipliers
Enterprise Value
The Markham Model
The Wilson/Bet Victor Model
Beyond the Models
Football Debt (and the Barcelona Paradox)
Interpreting the Interpreter’s Interpretation
The Profession
The Regulatory Body
Mainstream and New Media
Financial Regulation
The Case for Regulation
Financial Fair Play
Social Responsibility, Value and Reporting
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
COVID and CSR
Social Value
Social Reporting
Environmental Reporting
Reporting and Disclosure
References
3: Organizational Forms: Ownership and Governance
Organizational Form
Ownership and Governance Forms
Concentrated Dominant Ownership
Multi-club Ownership Models
Supporter (Mutual) Ownership
Hybrid Ownership and Governance: The 50% Plus One Model
References
4: Football Clubs: Who Are the People?
Players (and Agents)
Supporters
Supporter Involvement
Communities
Communities in Transition
The Case of Wimbledon
Modernization?
Activists and Campaigners
References
5: Where Business Meets Society: What Is a Football Club?
Conceptualizing a Football Club
Stakeholder Theory Approaches
Institutional Theory Approaches
Boundary Object Theory
References
6: Conclusion
Notes
References
Index
