Financialization and control of football clubs: the formation of Multi-Club Networks

• Grant number: 24/13535-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: May 01, 2025
• End date: October 31, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Geography - Human Geography
• Principal Investigator: Samuel Frederico
• Grantee: Jonathan Ferreira
• Host Institution: Instituto de Geociências e Ciências Exatas (IGCE). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The financialization of the global economy and the professionalization of football have led to the diffusion of the club-company model, particularly the multi-club network (Multi-club ownership). To understand how Brazil has positioned itself within the new international division of labor in football, this research aims to analyze the network organizational model established by "Multi-club ownership." Therefore, we propose two specific objectives: 1) To develop and analyze the typology of club-companies in Brazil, identifying their operational strategies, shareholder composition, and controllers; and 2) To develop and analyze the topology of club-companies in Brazil, identifying their territorial distribution and location factors. The novelty of the techno-scientific-informational period in football lies in the establishment of the legal model of the club-company and the emergence of clubs articulated in networks, operating under the command of a central entity. Thus, with the inclusion of a global company in a football club, either by transforming it into a company or by operating in conjunction as an association, changes in its management form are observed, shifting from an organization based on organic solidarity to decisions driven strictly by financial considerations, stemming from organizational solidarity. To this end, a survey of the number of existing multi-club networks worldwide will be conducted, as well as the development of a typology and topology of these organizations (AU)