How Much Is A Club Really Worth?

Duncan Disordely · March 25, 2013

Just stumbled across this piece http://j.mp/ZPPxq7 about how much the Premier League clubs are really worth. It's been done by a qualified accountant and former market trader

Its a far too lengthy piece with tables and stuff to copy and paste the lot, but here's the intro to it

Recent months have seen some extraordinary numbers bandied around for the values of English Premier League clubs. Arsenal were rumoured to be the target of £1.5bn offer by a Middle Eastern consortium, who have gone strangely quiet since. In January, Forbes said Manchester United had become the world’s highest value ‘sports franchise’ worth $3.3bn (£2.1bn). But on what consistent and rigorous basis are these claims made? TOM MARKHAM, a qualified accountant and former foreign exchange trader with an MBA in Football Industries from the University of Liverpool, has collaborated on projects with national associations, clubs, agencies and sports consultancies. About to complete a PhD in Football Finance at Henley Business School’s ICMA Centre, here he outlines exclusive new research that reveals a new reliable valuation model, universally applicable to Premier League clubs.

For those who can't be assed reading it all, he values us at £112.3Million

If you wanted to read it in further detail, it sounds like you can download the full paper he's written from that site.

**Mods, wasn't sure if this should have its own thread, be in the board thread, or maybe even world football? Feel free to move/merge as necessary**

Kevin Sheedy · March 25, 2013

It's sad how our great club is worth less than Newcastle, West Brom and Sunderland *sighs*.
We'll rise again one day... I hope.

Brennan · March 25, 2013

Whatever somebody is willing to pay. It seems clear after 13 years that we're not worth £125m.

Duncan Disordely · March 25, 2013

Kevin Sheedy said:
It's sad how our great club is worth less than Newcastle, West Brom and Sunderland *sighs*.
We'll rise again one day... I hope.

That was one of the things that jumped out at me, how low down we were. Newcastle with their stadium size, and Sunderlands stadium being relatively new would add value to those two, but West Brom?

D410 · March 25, 2013

The price quoted is for their 68% shareholding, so the actual valuation they are putting on the club is closer to £180m – a figure that has been touted for months.

Kevin Sheedy · March 25, 2013

Duncan Disordely said:
That was one of the things that jumped out at me, how low down we were. Newcastle with their stadium size, and Sunderlands stadium being relatively new would add value to those two, but West Brom?

Exactly, it's laughable! The two North East clubs get more attendances than us but that happens when there's no restricted views and only one team in a city.
All about new stadium and more transfer funds for us ie new owner who'll be willing to dip in his pocket straight away.

tsubaki · March 25, 2013

Kevin Sheedy said:
It's sad how our great club is worth less than Newcastle, West Brom and Sunderland *sighs*.
We'll rise again one day... I hope.

TBH if we were run as well as West Brom are, we would be worth a lot more. Newcastle and Sland are single-club cities of course so you cant really compare them to us. The big surprise in there, and the one that makes me think its just a load of guesswork, is Fulham - their ground alone is worth much more than £100 million.

Kevin Sheedy · March 25, 2013

tsubaki said:
TBH if we were run as well as West Brom are, we would be worth a lot more. Newcastle and Sland are single-club cities of course so you cant really compare them to us. The big surprise in there, and the one that makes me think its just a load of guesswork, is Fulham - their ground alone is worth much more than £100 million.

It's a listed building Craven Cottage isn't it?