Just like any other business enterprise, football clubs can be solely owned by an individual or opt for shareholding. Individually-owned clubs like Chelsea FC are difficult to own if you are an outsider while publicly-listed clubs such as Manchester United.
The publicly-listed clubs allow their fans to have some control of them by buying a given percentage of the club’s shares. Some of those clubs include;
Manchester United
Manchester United is one of the most valuable sports clubs in Europe. The club was founded in 1878 with its home stadium, Old Trafford, having a seating capacity of 70,000.
Over the years Man U has become one of the most dominant clubs in the English Premier League and European football, winning several titles.
The clubs quit the London Stock Exchange Market in 2005 after being privatized by another company but it later was re-listed in the New York Stock Exchange in 2012.
Juventus
Juventus was founded in 1897 and has become one of the successful clubs in Italy and worldwide. Also known as “La Vecchia Signora” (The Old Lady), the club has a rich history full of tradition. Since the early ’90s, the Turin-based club has been considered one of the wealthiest clubs in the world. Though the club privately enjoyed its immense wealth for some time, the club opted to list its shares on Borsa Italiana in 2001.
As Roma
If interested, you can buy the club’s shares at Borsa Italiana. About 67% of the club’s shares were owned by the Sensi family that owns Compagnia Italpetroli SpA. The family, however later sold the shares to NEEP Roma Holding SpA in 2011 who ended up owning 78% of the club’s shares. The rest of the shares have been left in the hands of the public and other shareholders.
Arsenal
Some times back, the Arsenal FC share price was big, like scary big. Its share price stood at £15,000. The club’s shares can either be bought and sold through the independent “Fanshare” scheme or directly on the ISDX market.
Buying Arsenal’s shares is, however, a risky affair, as they are not for investment purposes. According to the club, the shares are meant to allow fans to share the club’s ownership.
The club’s largest individual shareholder is Stan Kroenke who owns 66% of the club’s shares. Other 29.72% of the shares are shared between Red & White Securities, a company owned by Russia’s richest man, Alisher Usmanov and Farhad Moshiri, a British Iranian billionaire. Only 4% of Arsenal’s shares have been left for the fans to buy.
Borussia Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund’s shares can be bought or sold at Germany’s Xetra exchange.
The Bundesliga club listed its shares on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in 2001. Since it was listed, it has remained the German football club that is publicly quoted.
