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The Business of Football, Explained Like an Analyst Would Explain It

Barcelona's Window, Read Through the Cap

Sep 6, 2026

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3 min read

Barcelona's Window, Read Through the Cap

The summer window closed this week. Read Barcelona's moves through the salary cap rather than the transfer fees, and a chaotic-looking window turns out to be almost mechanical.

The Sports Strategist
The Sports Strategist
Brighton, Quant Funds, and the Information Edge

Aug 30, 2026

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4 min read

Brighton, Quant Funds, and the Information Edge

Brighton built a top-four Premier League side on less than half the wage bill of their rivals. The analytical parallels to quantitative investing are not accidental.

The Sports Strategist
The Sports Strategist
What La Liga Actually Sold to CVC

Aug 23, 2026

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4 min read

What La Liga Actually Sold to CVC

The CVC–La Liga deal raised €2.7 billion for Spanish football in 2021. Understanding what was sold requires thinking like a private equity investor, not a football fan.

The Sports Strategist
The Sports Strategist
Espai Barça as Project Finance

Aug 16, 2026

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3 min read

Espai Barça as Project Finance

Barcelona is spending €1.45 billion to rebuild its stadium. Here’s how to think about whether the bet makes sense.

The Sports Strategist
The Sports Strategist
Image Rights and the Spanish Tax Problem

Aug 9, 2026

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3 min read

Image Rights and the Spanish Tax Problem

Spain’s approach to player income taxation creates a layer of complexity that makes every top-tier signing structurally more expensive than it appears on paper.

The Sports Strategist
The Sports Strategist
The Spotify Deal, Priced Against the Market

Aug 2, 2026

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3 min read

The Spotify Deal, Priced Against the Market

Barcelona received approximately €70 million per year for its shirt sponsorship and stadium naming rights combined. Here’s what the market says that package is actually worth.

The Sports Strategist
The Sports Strategist
The Cap Is the Thing

Jul 26, 2026

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3 min read

The Cap Is the Thing

La Liga’s salary cap is preventive, not reactive — and that single distinction explains most of what you’ve read about Barcelona’s transfer windows for the past four years.

The Sports Strategist
The Sports Strategist
Club vs. Country

Jul 19, 2026

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5 min read

Club vs. Country

Players are employed by clubs. They’re compelled to international duty by FIFA. The economic asymmetry that creates is one of the more peculiar features of professional sport.

The Sports Strategist
The Sports Strategist
Two Clubs, Two Mandates

Jul 12, 2026

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7 min read

Two Clubs, Two Mandates

Madrid finished a second consecutive season without a major trophy. Revenue will hit a sports-team record. Both facts come from the same playbook.

The Sports Strategist
The Sports Strategist
The Champions League Tax

Jul 5, 2026

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3 min read

The Champions League Tax

Missing the Champions League costs a club far more than the prize money it doesn’t collect. Here’s the full accounting.

The Sports Strategist
The Sports Strategist
The Tournament Effect

Jun 28, 2026

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4 min read

The Tournament Effect

A great World Cup performance isn’t just a memory. It’s a synchronized information event that reprices an entire asset class. Here’s the mechanism.

The Sports Strategist
The Sports Strategist
La Masia’s Real ROI

Jun 21, 2026

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5 min read

La Masia’s Real ROI

Barcelona runs its academy on a fraction of what a single elite transfer costs. Here’s what it would take to replace that academy’s current output on the open market.

The Sports Strategist
The Sports Strategist
How the World Cup Actually Makes Money

Jun 14, 2026

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4 min read

How the World Cup Actually Makes Money

FIFA’s commercial machine generated a record $7.5 billion in the cycle that ended in 2022 — and has budgeted $11 billion for the cycle that closes with this tournament, with recent estimates pushing toward $13 billion. Here’s the structure.

The Sports Strategist
The Sports Strategist
The Sixth Street Deal, Priced Like a Bond

Jun 7, 2026

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4 min read

The Sixth Street Deal, Priced Like a Bond

Barcelona sold 25 percent of its TV rights for 25 years to raise emergency liquidity. Here’s what the implied cost of capital actually was.

The Sports Strategist
The Sports Strategist
What State Capital Actually Bought in Paris

May 31, 2026

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5 min read

What State Capital Actually Bought in Paris

Saturday’s Champions League final put fifteen years of Qatari investment in PSG to its most public test. Either result tells you less than the coverage is going to suggest.

The Sports Strategist
The Sports Strategist
The Wage Bill Problem

May 24, 2026

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4 min read

The Wage Bill Problem

How a football club ends up committed to paying more than it earns — and why getting out is harder than it looks.

The Sports Strategist
The Sports Strategist
How Barcelona Built and Nearly Broke a €1B Empire

May 17, 2026

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16 min read

How Barcelona Built and Nearly Broke a €1B Empire

A portfolio strategist's look at the most fascinating ongoing business case in world football.

The Sports Strategist
The Sports Strategist

The Sports Strategist

Institutional analysis on the business of football. Free, every Sunday.

The Sports Strategist

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© 2026 Views my own. Educational, not investment advice. @thesportsstrategist · Sports business · Football finance · Institutional analysis.
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