Chapter 770 This pool of water is very deep!
Accompanied by the enthusiastic President Luiz Filipe Vieira and Rui Costa, Yang Huan visited Benfica's Stadium of Light as well as the supermarkets and other sports venues around the stadium.
Through the introduction of the two, Yang Huan learned that Benfica also earned a considerable amount of income through the leasing of these venues, which kept Benfica's annual income at around 100 million euros.
This was achieved without taking into account player transfer transactions. In the Portuguese Super League, it ranks first, even surpassing the Portuguese Super League powerhouse Porto.
With the introduction of President Vieira, Yang Huan also learned that Benfica’s membership number was as high as more than 200,000, ranking first in Europe, and the annual membership fee alone was also a considerable income.
This is somewhat surprising.
Due to the limited influence of the entire Portuguese league, Benfica's income from sponsors, etc. should be very little, but it is indeed quite difficult to achieve such a level of income.
However, this may also have a lot to do with the fact that Benfica is a listed company.
It's not just Benfica. Porto and Sporting Lisbon are also listed companies. The latter two are even older. Porto was listed as early as the 1990s, while Benfica was only listed in recent years due to its heavy debts.
But just like the vast majority of football clubs whose stocks have performed poorly after going public, Benfica's current market value is less than half of what it was when it went public, and the share price has even fallen to less than one euro, making it a junk stock.
But they are considered lucky. Look at Porto, the share price of a single share is only 0.6 euros. Even at the end of 2012, the share price of this Portuguese Super League giant even plummeted to 0.18 euros, which is simply unbelievable.
What's even more frightening is that no one buys Benfica, Porto or Sporting Lisbon's stocks, and there is almost no liquidity. It can be seen that investors are not optimistic about them at all.
It’s no wonder, because the listing of football clubs is itself a very deformed product.
From Premier League teams such as Manchester United, to Ajax, Dortmund, and teams like Porto and Benfica, almost all of them went public because of heavy debts. As a result, once they went public, their stock prices immediately plummeted after they raised money.
Even a professional team like Manchester United is not immune.
Not long ago, a Wall Street hedge fund shorted Manchester United's stock for $5 million. As a result, the Red Devils' share price fell by 10%, which made investors see the strangeness of the football club's listing.
Just imagine, if Manchester United is like this, then other clubs will be even worse.
Accompanied by President Vieira and Rui Costa, Yang Huan walked around the Stadium of Light and then returned to one of the meeting rooms in Benfica's office.
"Mr. Yang Huan, we admire the brilliant achievements that Southampton has made in the past few years, especially in the globalization strategy. Many of the Saints' initiatives are worth learning from."
Luis Filipe Vieira said this very sincerely.
“I have communicated with Mr. Peter Kenyon before. You have established branch offices in the United States, China and the Middle East and have achieved considerable success, so we hope to have the opportunity to cooperate more.”
"In addition, we are also very interested and hope to participate in your Miracle Media's International Champions Cup at the right time. I believe Mr. Yang Huan is also aware that our Benfica is the second team in Europe to win the Champions League. We have a very long historical tradition, and our performance has been very stable in the past few years."
Yang Huan listened and nodded continuously, "President Vieira, there is a strong demand from the outside world to further expand the International Champions Cup. We have also been studying this plan very seriously. If we decide to expand, we must give priority to Benfica!"
"As for the cooperation between Southampton and Benfica, we also welcome it very much!"
Vieira also knew that this kind of thing could not be settled in a few words, but he didn't mind.
Are you kidding? Which European team today doesn’t want to participate in Miracle Media’s International Champions Cup?
Look at the participating teams. They can earn at least 100 to 200 million euros in net income every summer. If they can sign sponsorship contracts in North America and Asia, the income will be even greater.
Just like Benfica, their annual income is only 100 million after deducting the income from player transfers. They can make a net income of 10 or 20 million euros by playing a few games in a summer, which is too much for them.
But on the other hand, Miracle Media has very high requirements for participating teams, almost all of which are required to be top teams in Europe.
Although there are controversial teams like Monaco participating, considering the influence of the French Ligue 1 and the fact that Monaco has indeed performed quite well this season, everyone has let it go and instead thinks that Miracle Media has a good vision.
However, after the expansion of the International Champions Cup, there are only sixteen places in total, which is difficult to meet the needs of many European top teams. Therefore, many mid- and upper-level teams in the four major leagues, as well as upper-level teams in other leagues, are calling for further expansion.
Many people have even come up with a plan to hold a qualifying round before the main competition.
Teams that perform well in the qualifying rounds will advance to the finals and compete against stronger teams for the championship.
This plan has also received a lot of attention. After all, it will allow more teams to participate in the competition and make the competition more intense.
As for the schedule, it will be advanced from the end of July to the beginning of August to mid-July or even early July.
Although it may affect the team's preparations, European teams are also trying their best to generate revenue!
Yang Huan, Sun Yue and others are cautious about the International Champions Cup. After all, it has just expanded and taking too big a step could easily lead to failure. However, the market response is so enthusiastic that they must pay attention and give positive feedback.
Otherwise, there is no guarantee that someone will not set up their own faction!
Of course, the International Champions Cup is now well-known, and with all the top teams swept away, it is very difficult for others to reorganize a tournament. Add to that the high appearance fees, and the threshold is very high.
If even Rs company can't continue to operate, it will be difficult for others to gain a foothold.
Vieira is not a fool. He certainly knows that it is impossible to get any promise by just saying one thing or asking Benfica to lend a training base to Southampton. That is absolutely impossible.
But he was still trying to get closer to Yang Huan intentionally or unintentionally.
When talking about running a club, he vaguely, intentionally or unintentionally mentioned the issue of third-party ownership of the Portuguese Super League.
Yang Huan also wanted to return a favor to him, so he told him everything.
"I can guarantee that FIFA will soon work with UEFA to regulate third-party ownership, so the transformation of Portuguese Super League teams is imminent!"
"Really?" Vieira frowned.
This piece of news was an earthquake-level blow to him.
Of course, it is not too surprising. After all, in the past few years, there have been constant reports that UEFA and FIFA are going to suppress third-party ownership, but it has always been a lot of noise with little action. Could it be that they are serious this time?
"Absolutely, I promise!" Yang Huan was very sure, "And it will most likely take effect from next year!"
Vieira and Rui Costa looked at each other, both obviously panicked.
There are still several players in Benfica who are owned by third-party institutions. If they cannot be sold quickly before the ban takes effect, they will be considered to have violated the rules and will definitely be punished by UEFA and FIFA.
Not afraid?
Stop kidding!
Just one rule, banning Benfica from participating in the UEFA Champions League, is enough to push Benfica's finances to the brink of collapse!
Yang Huan looked at Vieira's expression and knew exactly what was going on.
The chaos in the Portuguese Super League teams is difficult for outsiders to understand.
Apart from anything else, even if they are both teams in the Portuguese Super League, teams like Porto can directly influence or even directly interfere with the transfers and head coach appointments of other Portuguese Super League teams, which is unimaginable in other leagues.
Are you kidding?
Look at Mourinho's resume. Didn't he go to Porto and ask to meet Porto's chairman Da Costa after he was laid off? Finally, Da Costa arranged for Mourinho to go to Leiria as the head coach, and then he took over Porto?
However, Mourinho is indeed tough and capable enough. After his outstanding performance in Porto, he immediately fled the Portuguese Super League and ran to Chelsea, successfully cleaned himself up and transformed into a world-famous coach. But even so, he was still somewhat involved in some scandals of Porto and Da Costa.
All in all, this pool of water is very deep!
"Master Huan, thank you for telling me such important news!"
Vieira thought for a while before heaving a long sigh of relief. He felt that the cold winter of Portuguese football was coming.
If third-party ownership were really restricted, where would the Portuguese Super League teams get the financial resources to introduce high-level stars?
Yang Huan felt a little strange when he saw his stern expression, as if Mount Tai was about to collapse.
"Louis, I have always had a question, I wonder if you can help me answer it?"
After hearing this, Vieira nodded and said, "Master Huan told me such important news, so there is nothing I can't say."
Yang Huan nodded in satisfaction and asked, "I'm very confused. Logically speaking, you sell players every year and make a lot of money. Why do you still rely so much on third parties? Haven't you ever thought about getting rid of the third party and going it alone?"
After hearing Yang Huan's question, Vieira and Rui Costa looked at each other and shook their heads helplessly.
"Master Huan, you don't understand our situation." Rui Costa sighed.
"Then tell me about it!" Yang Huan asked with interest.
Because he is really interested in knowing why there is such a weird league model as the Portuguese Super League?
Rui Costa immediately looked at Vieira, his eyes seemed to be asking, Can you speak, President?
Vieira was also weighing it in his mind. Perhaps he felt that Young Master Huan was a trustworthy person, or perhaps he sincerely wanted to get closer to Young Master Huan, so he nodded to indicate that he could say it.
After Rui Costa got the authorization, he thought about it and organized his speech.
"Master Huan, when you say the transfer fee is high, that's because you only heard the reports from the outside media and the official statement from the other club. But if you look at our company's financial statements, you will find the problem."
As a listed company, Benfica has to disclose its financial statements at regular intervals.
However, fans usually don't pay attention to these.
What fans care about most is the team. They don’t care at all about how much you earn or spend.
"You mean, the player transfer fee should be shared with a third party?"
Yang Huan thought, this is not strange at all, okay?
In this model, players are like a commodity. A third party holds a certain share of the shares. When you sell the commodity, you naturally have to give them a share of the profits. Isn't this reasonable?
But Rui Costa shook his head and smiled, "It's not that simple, Master Huan. The specific operation is much more complicated than this."
At this point, Yang Huan was really confused.
But, he is very interested in understanding it!