野狼社区

Liverpool against Real Madrid in the is a fixture for football fans to savour 鈥� two giants battling it out for one of the most prized trophies in the game. And regardless of the result, some will also see this match as a win for football over geopolitics and big money.

For these two sides making it to the final means that other powerful teams were knocked out along the way. There is no 野狼社区 City, a club for the lavish resources it receives from the Abu Dhabi governnment. There is no Paris St-Germain, which is funded by the vast .

No sign of Chelsea either, the defending European champions, who enjoyed the financial backing of a billionaire with strong connections to Russian leaders and Russian gas.

So perhaps this year鈥檚 Champions League final is indeed a victory for football purists 鈥� a chance to support traditional clubs, untainted by the vast wealth and questionable politics of their rivals.

But before a wave of nostalgia washes over anyone, it is worth remembering that Liverpool versus Real Madrid is not a simple matter of old fashioned sporting values lifting up the beautiful game.

For a start, both clubs have traditionally had strong political associations; the Reds with and Los Blancos with .

And the two sides have openly embraced free market ideology, making them among the wealthiest clubs in the world. In the 2022 ranking of , Real Madrid (which has topped the list 12 times in the last 25 years) ranks second, with earnings of 鈧�640.1 million (拢544.2 million), while Liverpool are seventh with 鈧�550.4 million (拢467.9 million).

Both teams, then, earn and spend vast amounts of money. For instance, Liverpool has one of football鈥檚 most kit deals (with Nike), while Real Madrid still has an appetite for spending vast sums on .

And it would be naive to think that the clubs are uninterested in becoming even wealthier. Indeed, just over a year ago, Liverpool and Real Madrid were among the eight football clubs which to form a European Super League.

This was clearly designed to accelerate the flow of revenues into already rich clubs, at the expense of other sides across Europe.

Liverpool鈥檚 owners eventually stepped back from the proposal, at least for the time being. Real Madrid president Florentino Perez however, intent on getting his way and launching a breakaway league.

So while it is true that neither of this year鈥檚 Champions League finalists are fuelled by oil and gas revenues, they remain prime examples of free market football, and the cash it brings in.

Moneyball

The graphics below allow us to take an overall view of the investments and sponsorship surrounding both clubs, all of which are in the public domain. Each circle represents an economic 鈥渁ctor鈥� (a club, a business or an individual), while each connecting line represents a significant economic transaction.

A closer look at Liverpool鈥檚 most lucrative commercial deals reveals that the club鈥檚 owner, , which also boasts the Boston Red Sox in its portfolio, has assembled a sizeable network of entertainment businesses and properties in the US.

This includes , a 鈥渉igh-profile dealmaker鈥� in the professional sports world, and RedBall Acquisition Corp, spearheaded by Billy Beane (of fame) and Gerry Cardinale, the co-founder of the Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network.

Another business of note is SpringHill Company, an entertainment development and production firm headed by basketball star LeBron James, which has tennis player on the board of directors. James is also a of Liverpool FC.

Though not overtly political, Liverpool鈥檚 private ownership and US focused operations embody a free market ideology that has become increasingly prominent across European football over the last two decades.

Real fortunes

At first glance, Real Madrid would appear to be a very different beast. The club is owned by its members 鈥� known as 鈥渟ocios鈥� 鈥� who get to vote club officials into and out of office.

But the graphic of its commercial deals and relationship shows how closely linked to foreign wealth it has become. There are connections with , an entertainment 鈥渕ega-project鈥� under construction in Saudi Arabia, and with a Chinese bank which issues a Real Madrid branded credit card.

There are also commercial relationships with Abu Dhabi Bank and Emirates Airline in the UAE, Sela Sports, an event management company based in Saudi Arabia, and technology firms in South Korea and China.

Overall, there鈥檚 a lot of money invested in the two sides playing for the trophy. And the political side of the game is arguably more obvious than ever.

This year鈥檚 Champions League tournament started out with Russian energy giant Gazprom as a principal sponsor, with the final due to be held in Vladimir Putin鈥檚 hometown of Saint Petersburg.

After the invasion of Ukraine, the final was , and the deal with Gazprom terminated. So despite being sanitised of Russia鈥檚 influence and of fortunes made through oil and gas, the match still represents two of the key players in the modern game: politics and business.

, Global Professor of Sport | Director of Eurasian Sport, and , Researcher of Sport Business,

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