What Happened to Amateurism?
I’m going to give it to you straight, dear reader: sports have always been about money. Okay, well I’m not exactly sure if the Aztecs had a salary cap or if the star forward of Sheffield United FC (the oldest professional football team in the world) held out for a higher wage, but for at least the last 150 years, sport and money have become indivisible (no matter what Mark Emmert and the NCAA have to say about it). I have been fascinated by soccer (hereto referred as football) for as long as I can remember. As a kid, I remember watching games on TV and playing FIFA video games basking in the whimsy of my favorite sport. My favorite team quickly became Manchester City in England’s Premier League because of their plucky underdog status and beautiful sky blue kits. However, in 2008, the team was acquired by the Abu Dhabi group and soon became a conduit for vitriol. The team I had supported was suddenly owned by a collective of people who obtained their wealth through state owned oil businesses, a state I might add has a horrible human rights record. Ever since then, I have become more interested in the business side of the game. As I researched the effects of money on the beautiful game, I began to find the intersection of money and football produces some incredible stories. Teams with no financial resources defying all odds, Moneyball style. Teams with newfound funding finding ways to transfer that spending into success, cementing dynasties or dying trying. What this blog aims to do is share some of those stories. Some will be familiar to the casual football fan while others will perhaps skew a little more esoteric. In the end, the main thrust of this blog and its 8 stories is one familiar to all people: can money really buy happiness? Or in the case of sport, does having more money always lead to more success on the field? Stick around for discussions on net spend, Italian pasta magnates, Russian Oligarchs, and perhaps the most unlikely championship run of all time.
Football Through Finances 