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 Welcome to the Business of Sports newsletter. This week we look at the top performing club in English football (Hint: It’s probably not who you think it is.) Our London-based sports reporter David Hellier won the coin toss to go to Rome and mingle at the annual meeting of football bosses. And check out how much fellow reporter Ira Boudway has spent at Dick’s Sporting Goods over the past few years. As always, send us any feedback, tips or ideas here. If you aren’t yet signed up to receive this newsletter, you can do so here. Locker RoomGeneral Infantino: During this week’s European Club Association (now the European Football Clubs) annual meeting, the letters GA blazed across stands and billboards. GA stood for General Assembly. Due to the arty way the GA logo had been designed, it looked like the letters GI. ECA executives discussed the signage before the event, according to a person familiar with the matter. They even joked that FIFA president Gianni Infantino — humble as always — might mistake this sign for his initials. They were right.  FIFA President Gianni Infantino. Photographer: Fabrizio Corradetti/LaPress/AP “Then I came into this room, and I saw the logo, and it was GI for Gianni Infantino,” Infantino said during his speech to delegates. “But then I realized it’s not GI; it’s GA. But it doesn’t matter. I am happy.” — David Hellier Pay to Play: The big rugby news this week is how various rival organizations have come together against the mysterious R360 league. We’ve written before about the breakaway league, and its messy beginning. Now that various national bodies have decreed that any player who goes over to R360 will be outlawed, the upstart looks like a goner. All the noise distracts from the main fact that clubs — most of which are in a financial mess — are still running around trying to ensure they’re financed. Republic, the private investing platform, is hosting a fan investment round for Gloucester Rugby. The proceeds, which are expected to be around £1 million, will be invested in the academy and the club’s training facilities. It’s not likely that the shares will carry votes. Republic says it’s also aiming to launch a raise for London Irish, which is being revived after falling into administration. Republic has several live fundraising deals for fans in the works, including with Glenavon and Llanelli Town. But a higher-profile deal with Watford was scrapped and investors repaid earlier this year. Rugby needs something to start working. — Hellier Diplomatic Gymnastics: Everyone was an Olympic winner this week, sort of. On Wednesday evening — in what seemed like a rushed move — the Los Angeles Olympics organizers put out a release saying that Google is a sponsor and local cloud provider for the 2028 Games. That wasn’t the whole story, though. LA28 had been looking for a US cloud provider for a while. This is because its main cloud provider is Chinese giant Alibaba. For Paris 2024, political pressure over data security concerns prompted officials to seek a local cloud provider. So it’s not surprising that LA28 picked Google as tensions between China and the US have been rocky to say the least. Cue applause from Washington, where lawmakers have been pressing to keep the Beijing-linked company out of the states for at least several weeks, likely more. They were happy with the Google announcement. “I commend the LA28 team for choosing a US company and barring Alibaba from the 2028 Olympics,” Rep. John Moolenaar, the Republican chair of the House Select Committee on China, said in a statement to Bloomberg News. The thing is, Alibaba is still a major tech provider for LA28. And we hear Alibaba and the IOC were discussing all of this for well over a year. The company will continue to be the cloud provider to the Olympics Broadcasting Services, according to people familiar with the situation. OBS produces and distributes the live television, radio and digital feeds to local media rights-holders. The IOC confirmed to us in a statement that Alibaba remains a top-tier sponsor through 2028 and declined to comment on whether US political pressure played any role in the decision. Alibaba didn’t respond to our request for comment. So, it seems that LA28 gets to bask in what I like to call diplomatic gymnastics — while Alibaba quietly keeps its Olympic torch burning in the background. Gold medals all round. — Aysha Diallo ICYMI
America’s British Football LoveHi, it’s David. About an hour’s drive north from Premier League-topping Arsenal’s home in London, the town of Stevenage has hardly been known as a hotbed for the world’s most popular sport. Yet the local club is currently the best-performing team in England’s 92-member football pyramid based on points per game, and owner Phil Wallace is mulling new investment to take Stevenage FC to the next level. He’s been in talks with a bank adviser in California, he said. “I would like a partner, but they would have to be the right partner,” Wallace said in a recent interview at the club’s training ground. US investors have “been really good for the game,” he added.  Max Dyche of Northampton Town contests the ball with Jordan Roberts of Stevenage Photographer: Pete Norton/Getty Images With American money transforming football’s ownership in all corners of the country, Stevenage could be the latest club in the shop window. The club entered the football league 15 years ago and has never been out of the bottom two divisions. It’s currently in its best-ever position, sitting atop League One, the third tier of the English game that attracted attention last year as Birmingham City and Wrexham — both with US ownership —headed for promotion to the second-tier Championship. If the current form continues, promotion would come, as would demands for investment in players and facilities. Stevenage’s stadium has a 7,300 capacity, one of the smallest in League One. Wallace’s main business is Lamex, which imports and exports food. The club’s revenue is close to £8 million ($10.8 million), according to accounts to the end of May 2024, suggesting a valuation of around £15-£20 million. That would rise to more if Stevenage gets promoted. In the recent past, American investors have bought into a number of lower league clubs, including Lincoln City and Carlisle United, with mixed results. The former is vying for promotion with Stevenage while the latter suffered back-to-back relegations and is in the fifth tier. At Stevenage, Wallace helped the club get into the Football League for the first time in 2010-11. He travels around in a Bentley when he’s visiting from his home in Jersey and is known by coaches and the chef cooking the first team’s meals, which he also occasionally eats. It’s early days, but Stevenage have 2.5 points per game so far this season, compared with 2.29 at Arsenal. “I want to get this club into the Championship,” Wallace said. “And I want it to stay in the Championship. But if I’m bringing in an investor, it must be - above all else - a good fit for me, somebody who will enjoy the journey as much as I do.” More From BloombergFor more on the intersection of money and sports, subscribe to the Bloomberg Business of Sports podcast. Find it on Apple, Spotify or anywhere you listen. Get Bloomberg newsletters in your inbox:
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