Valorisation des clubs de football professionnel. Modélisation comparative avec des entreprises classiques. L'impact du Covid-19

Abstract

In recent years, the world of football has evolved into a truly global industry. More and more clubs are being taken over by foreign investors such as sheiks from the Middle East or wealthy Americans. This leads to an increase in the demand for club valorization. Today, a few studies have been carried out regarding the valuation of professional football clubs. Indeed, most of them concern the valuation of North American franchises. The first objective of this thesis is to determine whether European football clubs can be valorized using classical valuation techniques. To do so, the literature review also considers contemporary valuation techniques for sports institutions. The analysis shows that it is not possible to value both types of institutions using the same techniques in view of the specific characteristics of football clubs. The second objective is to develop a reliable valuation model for football clubs. To achieve this, two reliable models are analyzed. These two models are pooled. To create the most complete valuation model, a variable is added: the gross added value. According to some authors, the impact that clubs can have on the local and national economy is often overlooked. The last objective is to show the impact of COVID-19 on the valuation of professional football clubs. As European countries are impacted in different ways and football federations take different decisions on a case-by-case basis, the analysis of this impact is applied to only one country: England. The study shows that clubs experience a more or less significant decrease in their business value according to two scenarios. These two scenarios are the temporary cessation of the league or its permanent cessation for the current season.