Behind The Scenes: Facts You Might Not Know About the Financial Side Of Soccer

Even though sports have always been a business, you might be surprised by how profitable soccer has become.

When it comes to negotiating salaries and fees, teams and players have more power than ever before in the post-Bosman transfer landscape, where a player can move teams without paying a fee after their contract expires.

Over the past few years, there has been an influx of money as well as an increase in the popularity of the sport.

As a result, there has been a wider gap between rich and poor teams, teams have spent more on players, and clubs and leagues around the world have seen overall financial growth.

Unknown facts about soccer’s financial side include the following:

Financial Fair Play

This is a rule that all soccer teams must follow is this one.

A rule called Financial Fair Play (FFP) was put in place to make sure that teams don’t spend more money on transfers than they make to get an advantage over their rivals.

Additionally, this rule prevents the team from running into financial difficulties that could put the club’s long-term survival in jeopardy.

This creates a level playing field from a financial standpoint because some clubs lack the funding that others do.

As a result, the lower-paid clubs can stay in the league instead of being eliminated due to money rather than the talent of their players.

However, it is common for clubs in Major League Soccer (MLS) to have very wealthy investors within the club.

These investors like to put money into the club so that they can get a return on their investments and watch their teams win.

Financial Caps

A spending cap that restricts how much a club can spend on an athlete’s salary has been implemented in all soccer leagues worldwide.

As a result, the club or team cannot collectively pay their players more than the stipulated amount or risk reproduction.

Teams that break this rule can be punished on a sliding scale by federations.

This could be anything from a minor reprimand to substantial fines for the club or team, possibly even the loss of any previous titles.

A club can only pay player salaries with 70% of its total revenue.

In the past, only a few clubs have broken this rule without being sanctioned by their respective soccer federations.

Players rarely argue their own corner

Players whose contracts have run out or who are being bid on by rival teams almost always have their agent handle the negotiations when the transfer market opens, whether in January or the summer.

A player’s participation in negotiations is crucial because it could mean the difference between receiving fair compensation for their abilities and having a club exploit a player.

Because the players are paid to play soccer and are not taught or expected to manage their own finances, this is done by soccer agents.

Another good reason why agents argue players’ corner is to make the negotiations more credible and thought-out.

Agents know what their clients should be getting in a contract and therefore will argue more compelling and credible arguments compared to the player themselves. 

Fans of soccer all over the world have seen their favourite players leave and come back, but they are unaware that some of them struggle to pay their bills because their clubs or federations do not pay them enough.

Because of this, a lot of players haven’t been paid for months at a time, which has made it hard for families back home to make ends meet without help from loved ones overseas.

Many supporters don’t have a good understanding of what is going on behind the scenes in soccer clubs and federations around the world.

However, if they did know a bit about what happens it would give a good insight into how teams work, how players are feeling and possibly why your team isn’t performing as well as they should be.

Soccer is a million-dollar business and many in the industry see it as just that, a business.

Many fans have also said that the money surrounding the beautiful game has now ruined the pure enjoyment they used to feel as now fans are worried about rising ticket prices and the lack of heart and passion still in the game.