Roma fans have gotten used to Dan Friedkin’s ownership over the last five years, but now that the American billionaire has recently acquired EPL team Everton FC, is there a concern at Roma that he might be spreading his portfolio too wide and giving himself too much work to do?
The Trials & Tribulations Of Running A Football Team
Few people know the logistics involved with running a football club. Some have transformed subpar teams into world beaters (often with hundreds of millions of dollars of investment on and off the pitch), while others have turned footballing giants of their league into irrelevant mid-table sides.
We imagine a big part of the appeal of owning historic football institutions like Roma and Everton FC is the promise of turning them into title contenders again. Roma are often the bridesmaids and never the brides, finishing runners-up 14 times and not winning the Serie A since 2001.
Not only do owners have to adapt to this, but they also have to outbid and outperform other billionaire owners in the league – marketing, logistics, signing the right manager, and staying within the confines of financial fair play are all headaches that owners have to deal with. We don’t envy them.
Navigating The Global Market
Serie A and the Premier League are now global corporations and institutions. Many fans turn their nose up at the idea of being owned by an overseas billionaire, claiming that they do not know the traditions or heritages of the clubs or the cities they represent. Truthfully, this isn’t a requirement for a successful team in the modern era.
So many markets have adapted to the new global world. Serie A has a global audience of hundreds of millions, and the EPL has an audience of billions. Popular betting markets that underpin these leagues also have international attention, and this feeds into the growth of the wider gambling industry, including casino games, which are also a global market.
For instance, a live casino online now has all the characteristics and appeal it did before the internet. Still, live casinos must battle an international market, all attempting to entice an international customer base. While the world of football and live casinos have plenty of differences, the impact of globalization has meant that football fans, owners, and TV companies have all had to adapt to the internet in the same way the casino gaming world has over the last couple of decades.
Not Taking The Eye Off The Ball
Roma have more wins in the Europa League than any other team. While Dan Friedkin has put considerable funds into new players and an array of managers, only to find themselves back to Claudio Ranieri – the man who was manager at the beginning of Friedkin’s reign, some Roma fans have voiced concerns that they are stretching themselves too far by taking on a Premier League team, who are in the process of moving into a new stadium.
Others are even more skeptical, thinking that Friedkin could be shifting his focus away from Italy following the successful takeover of Everton—although there are no verified reports that he plans to do this anytime soon.
Italian football fans will know Gino Pozzo’s dual English/Italian ownership of Udinese and Watford. The English club’s relegation and a dozen managers in a decade during this turbulent period were due to several factors. Still, some have stated that it arose from the headache and workload of owning two clubs in different countries. There are even F1 owners who own football clubs, too, so it’s multi-brand ownership across different sports, not just multiple football teams.
It can also go the other way. Manchester City’s owner has overseen a period of dominance in the English game and the crowning achievement—the 2023 European Cup. The City Group, of which Man City is a leading part, is part of a mass group holding over 10 different clubs across several continents. So, Roma fans do not need to worry about The Friedkin Group and their mere portfolio of two teams when The City Group has made it work with nearly a dozen.
Conclusion
With multi-club ownership, the genuine concern is that each club has many crises that the leadership has to contend with. While The Friedkin Group bought a significant amount of debt associated with Everton FC’s previous owners, they have also inherited a brand new stadium in the middle of the city.
Since they appointed David Moyes, Everton has gone on an incredible run, taking points from the top three teams over the last few months. Of course, there will always be trials and tribulations involved in any club ownership, and although Everton had to navigate a ten-point deduction recently, they now look as though they are in the clear.
Likewise, although Roma isn’t challenging in the domestic league as the owners would like, it could also be a lot worse. Based on the evidence and other owners, balancing the ownership of both clubs should not be too much of an issue for Dan Friedkin.
