In the last year, "at least a dozen" European Premier
division football-club owners have been "privately huddling"
with U.S. fund managers about following the "American model"
of raising corporate sponsorship money to underwrite the
construction of new facilities "without tapping into the
public treasuries that have historically financed costly
stadium projects," according to Craig Copetas of the WALL
STREET JOURNAL INTERACTIVE. Chase Securities fund manager
Adam Greene has been having conversations with the owners of
"a number of different major European clubs" about
sponsorships, but he "declined to name" those owners.
Greene: "I go to European countries where football owners
have moved along the commercial model of sports business.
These are the clubs who need the stadium financing."
Copetas wrote that "plenty" of clubs need to "upgrade their
aging facilities" and the clubs that "parlay their star
players and supporters to create team-branded leisure and
entertainment complexes generating income beyond ticket
sales and broadcast rights would likely include" premier
division teams in England, Italy and Spain (WSJ.COM, 4/19).
