Becoming a footballer is a dream for many, but having the ambition to own a football club is far less common. While football club majority ownership is typically the domain of Russian oligarchs and Middle Eastern sheikhs, there is a way for fans to own a piece of the club.
It may surprise you to know that you can become a part-owner in your favourite club by investing and buying football club shares.
You can, but not for every team. Only those clubs listed as public limited companies (PLCs) are available on the stock market for you to buy shares in.
In the same way that it’s difficult to invest in private equity, you need some deep football connections (or pockets) to buy shares in unlisted clubs. You can see a list of available European football teams in the table below. At the moment, buying Manchester United shares is the only straightforward option for a UK team. Arsenal shares are listed on a specialist exchange and are hard to get.
| Club | League | Stock Exchange | Ticker | Share price | Link to invest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester United | Premier League | New York Stock Exchange | MANU | $16.2 | Capital at risk |
| Celtic | Scottish Premiership | London Stock exchange | CCP | 139.1p | Capital at risk |
| Borussia Dortmund | Bundesliga | Frankfurt Stock exchange | BVB | €3.7 | Capital at risk |
| Juventus | Serie A | Italian Stock Exchange | JUVE | €1.767 | Capital at risk |
Manchester United’s on-the-field success has made it one of the most supported football teams on the planet – and one of the richest. Majority-owned by the Glazer Family and at a value of $3.4 billion (around £2.7 billion), Manchester United is currently ranked fourth in the list of the most valuable football clubs, compiled by Forbes. Recently, British billionaire, Sir Jim Ratcliffe bought 25% of the club for around £1 billion and took over football operations.
Find out how to invest in the Red Devils
Arch-rivals to Rangers, Celtic is one of the most successful clubs in Scotland, having won the Scottish league championship an impressive 51 times. With a valuation of £90.6 million, Celtic was ranked the 42nd most valuable football brand by Brand Finance in 2023. The largest shareholder is Irish businessman Dermot Desmond, who effectively has control of the club.
Unlike rivals Rangers, because Celtic is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), investing in the famous green and white hoops is much simpler.
Find out more about investing in Celtic
Few clubs in Europe are as recognisable as Borussia Dortmund, Germany’s second-most successful team. It also became the first and only German club to be publicly traded on the stock market in the first year of the millennium.
Find out more on how to invest in the black and yellows
Juventus is Italy’s most successful club, having won a record 36 official league titles (Scudetto), 14 Coppa Italia titles and 9 Supercoppa titles. Majority-owned by the Agnelli family, with a value of around $2.2 billion (about £1.7 billion), it is currently ranked 11th in the “world’s most valuable soccer teams” compiled by Forbes.
The Turin giant is listed on the Milan Stock Exchange.
Learn more about investing in Juventus
They can be. However, most people choose to invest in a football club as another way of supporting their favourite team, so they’re more a novelty than an investment. While not unheard of, you wouldn’t typically invest in a rival team to the one you support — you’re almost guaranteed a pie in the face if you rock up at a Liverpool game and announce you’ve been buying shares in Manchester United.
There’s no saying how football shares are going to perform, as different clubs have had vastly different results. Like with a company, a club’s performance can vary both on and off the pitch.
As always, past performance doesn’t indicate future results. You should look into the current financials of the football club you want to invest in.
You can only buy shares in football clubs that are publicly traded. If the one you’re a fan of is still privately owned, you won’t be able to buy any stock. You could look into investing in the club’s sponsors, or in the case that a public company owns the club, you could invest in the parent company.
When it comes to investing, the share price of listed football clubs should, in theory, be driven by the same as any other share – future profit outlook, as well as supply and demand.
While it is also suggested that factors such as player transfers, team financials and sponsorships can also impact a team’s share price, short-term performance on the pitch isn’t necessarily a major concern as an investor.
Similar to the real estate market, football is an industry with some unique challenges and obstacles – but the strength of the underlying company is what investors should concentrate on when weighing up the risks of buying football club shares.
Big-name clubs don’t see a big boost in performance after floating shares on a stock exchange. They’re already paying high salaries and have lots of financial obligations, so the extra money doesn’t make a huge difference. And strangely, they don’t perform better in big international competitions like the UEFA Champions League either.
It seems like the extra cash injection often goes to balancing the books rather than signing star players or revamping stadiums. It’s a different story for smaller clubs, though. They seem to play a bit better on the field after going public.
Yet, when we look at the wider stock market, football shares don’t keep up. For example, Manchester United’s shares have returned only 7.3% over 10 years, compared to a whopping 146% for the broader S&P 500 index.
So why do clubs go public? IG’s Senior Market Analyst, Axel Rudolph, thinks it’s mainly about paying off debts rather than chasing growth. It’s like a good defensive strategy in a tight game!
Investing in football clubs can feel like being part of the game – a thrilling venture, yet one not without its risks. Remember, these aren’t novelty items. You’re investing in real companies, and with any investment, there’s potential for both rewards and losses.
It’s not unheard of for football club shares to outpace popular indices like the S&P 500 index, but there’s also a good chance shares miss the mark and lag behind broad market investments. It’s a long game that, unlike 90 minutes of football, requires patience and a cool head for years. So, while it’s a different kind of competitive thrill, the potential rewards of buying football club shares is a more drawn-out affair.
All investing should be regarded as longer term. The value of your investments can go up and down, and you may get back less than you invest. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. If you’re not sure which investments are right for you, please seek out a financial adviser. Capital at risk.
Finder data suggests that men aged 25-34 are most likely to be researching this topic.
| Response | Male (%) | Female (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 65+ | 4.38% | 1.13% |
| 55-64 | 6.55% | 1.69% |
| 45-54 | 10.25% | 3.42% |
| 35-44 | 16.32% | 4.78% |
| 25-34 | 23.03% | 6.47% |
| 18-24 | 16.52% | 5.47% |
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how to buy a share on football or how to invest
Hi Timothy,
Thank you for reaching out to Finder.
For you to purchase shares ina football team and invest in them, please see the steps below:
Choose a team that is trading on the Stock Exchange.
Open a share trading account.
Deposit funds into your account.
Find your team and place the deal.
You are now a shareholder!
The page we are on explains this in detail. Hope this helps!
Cheers,
Reggie