How do you value a football (soccer) club?

Football (soccer) clubs are typically valued using EV / revenue and comparables analysis. This is because many weaker-performing teams do not make positive EBITDA or net income, so it would be difficult to compare EV / EBITDA or EV / EBIT as widely as you’d like.

it’s difficult to do a DCF because many football clubs do not make positive cash flows, and there is a high degree of uncertainty since it is hard to predict wins or losses in football.

Using comparables analysis, we can compare a football club to similar clubs in the same league as well as other sports teams in other leagues. For example, mid-tier football clubs in the Premier League should be worth 2 to 3x EV / revenue, and a top-tier football club should be worth 4-5x EV / revenue. Sports teams in general trade for 2-6x EV / revenue.