Aurélien Fleurot / Photo credit: Xavier Duvot / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP
Football club timeshare has become a new norm over the years with almost 200 football clubs involved, a figure that is constantly growing. The latest example in France, AS Cannes, which plays in National 2, was bought by the American owner of AS Rome. These choices which respond to a sporting and above all economic logic.
The AS Cannes football club, promoted to National 2, has been bought by American businessman Dan Friedkin, also owner of AS Rome, the Riviera club announced on Monday. A new example of football club timeshare. But why is this phenomenon in vogue? The main interest for an investor is to reduce the share of risks. A young talent is expensive so you might as well detect them as soon as possible, get them to play, even in a smaller club and give them the promise of a future in a big team. An industrial logic deciphers Vincent Chaudel, co-founder of the Sport Business Observatory.
Ubuesque situations
“When you have major global groups, like Danone, you recruit young talent straight out of school and then you offer them a career path, saying ‘You’re going to that country for this brand. And, if it goes well , you will pass in this country, for this brand’, and so on”, declared Vincent Chaudel at the microphone of Europe 1.
But timeshare does not only have good sides, it can give rise to grotesque situations like that of Savinho, potential Brazilian nugget, the most expensive recruit in the history of Troyes, owned by City Football Group which owns 12 clubs including Man City. He was immediately loaned out to a better team and he’ll probably never play for Dawn, but if he gets really strong he could easily land with the English champions. Another problematic scenario with timeshare: AC Milan and Toulouse risk finding themselves in the same European competition next season. Unfortunately, this is a problem since it is prohibited. The American owner of the two clubs, RedBird Capital, is therefore in the process of disengaging from Téfécé.