Foreign investment and primarily investment from the middle east have become more prevalent in recent years regarding European football. A perfect example is Newcastle FC. The Saudi Arabian public investment fund completed the purchase of Newcastle for 305 million pounds. The fund currently manages over 430 billion pounds bringing a newfound frugality to the club. Fans filled the streets around St. James Park when the deal was confirmed.
Although the new ownership would be bringing in more assets, would it be a good fit for the eighth-most valuable team in the premier league? Newcastle FC was founded in 1881 and was formerly known as Stanley FC. The team has played at St. James Park since 1892 and has a historic presence but hasn’t won a trophy since 1955 and has struggled in recent years.
The deal took over 18 months to complete. When the bid was for ownership was placed, it was met with immediate protests from beIN Media Group. beIN is a Qatar-based media company that owns the Premier League’s media rights in the middle east. The Saudi kingdom blocked beIN from broadcasting and created a “shadow network” that took billions away from the Qatar-based company.
According to an analysis done by Swiss Rambles, Newcastle, under Mike Ashley, was the only Premier League club not to have any net finance put into the club by its owner. Recently Manchester City has received 1.6 billion in financing from another Middle Eastern company. This is almost a certain future for Newcastle. Can they bring home their first trophy in over 65 years without losing the historic value of their franchise?
This story has been huge recently in the world of the English Premier League and I think it becomes a scenario where you have to be careful of what you wish for in regards to being a New Castle supporter. Many New Castle fans have a right to be upset with the previous owner, but at the same time should be cautious of their new owner. I think most fans hope for the best case scenario, such as what happened with Liverpool, but this doesn't mean it will necessarily happen with New Castle. It would be great to see a new team put a mark on the English Premier League, but only time will tell.
ReplyDeleteNewcastle fans have a debate on their hands. On one side they might not like the new ownership when dealing with te beIN Media Group issue and the negative headlines. However, on the other hand, Newcastle have won 6 of their last 9 and are 9 points clear of regulation. With the signings of Chris Wood, Kieran Trippier, and Bruno Guimares, fans are put in a tough position.
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