🤑 Why Watford FC Are Giving You the Opportunity to Own a Piece of the Club

Different format to the newsletter today. Quick hitters instead of one big piece like usual.

I get quite a lot of DM’s of people asking me sport related questions over a wide-range of topics so soon I will do a mailbag giving you the forum to ask me any questions you like. The pick of the bunch will get answered here!

Later this week the European Championships kicks off in Germany.

In true TLP fashion I released a video breaking down how much money the tournament makes and how that money gets distributed! Find that video on YouTube HERE.

Until then, we start with a fascinating story for Watford Football Club.

Watford are giving fans the chance to buy a piece of the club.

Italian owner Gino Pozzo is looking to raise £17.5m and he is willing to give away 10% of the club to do so.

Difference being that this stake will not come from an American owner. It won’t come from a private equity company, it will come from retail buyers like you and I.

An obvious question arises here. Why are Watford and Ginio doing this?

Truthfully, they’ve been looking for additional investment for some time and they have failed to get it. I wouldn’t call this a last ditched attempt to raise cash but this method is a way in which they can generate the money they need:

• Without giving away any voting rights

• Without the pressure of expected returns that you would get from a HNWI or an asset management company

• At the terms and valuation they want

• By being perceived to be a team for the people

This is a unique offering which I have not seen before in the UK so beneath everything I give credit to Watford for being innovative in their approach.

If you are interested in participating you can right now for just £50.

They proclaim to use the funds generated to spend on transfers in an attempt to get back into the Premier League as fast as possible.

Link to get involved is here.

Elsewhere in the division above the Premier League is busy increasing the commercial viability of the best football league in the world.

This week they have announced two new commercial deals:

• A renewal of their main sponsor Barclays who will pay £75m over 4 years (a SIXTY uplift on the current deal!)

• A newly formed main beer sponsor with Guinness replacing their predecessors Budweiser. Guinness will pay £41m over four years

This is largely symbolic as the uplift in revenue benefits our beloved football clubs.

This tweet below shows the Premier League revenue distribution to teams in the 2022/2023 season a few years ago.

As you can see, the penultimate column shows a healthy £188.0m equally shared amongst the twenty PL clubs at a share of £9.4m each from the commercial revenue generated from the league.

With these deals increasing in size that figure will increase substantially for next season and mean more money in the coffers for our teams.

This table is a little outdated, the Premier League take some time to publish revenue distribution but my guess is that £188m will become £300m very soon! Meaning a £15m kitty for our clubs from league-wide commercial deals.

Delicious stuff.

I’ll leave you this week with a fascinating video I saw recently.

Maxi Hughes was the IBO Lightweight Champion for two years between 2021 and 2023.

Last month he posted a video to his YouTube channel breaking down how much he made in the biggest fight of his career so far.

Before you hit play on the video take a second to think about how much you think its going to be. At the time he was signed to Eddie Hearn. He was on a six-fight win streak and earned his shot at a World Title, which he won.

Have a think…

… now hit play:

Yeah I was surprised too!

I would love to interview athletes and get real insights into how much they’re actually taking home after tax. My guess is that the real numbers would surprise many.

As always, see you next week.