Fractional Ownership News
UEFA hails Arsenal's fanshare scheme
Arsenal's fanshare scheme, which enables ordinary supporters to become part-owners of the club, has been hailed as a progressive step that should be encouraged across the Premier League.
UEFA president Michel Platini has been a vocal critic of the trend of wealthy foreign benefactors in English football, but believes that ‘Arsenal Fanshare’ is an important development in promoting strong and stable governance.
The company is already available for trading on Long’s Plus Market, but the shares are thinly traded and certainly not cheap at EUR10,000 ($15,600).
The fractional share concept, which allows supporters to collectively buy fractions of the club’s shares for as little as £100, or £10 a month, was launched on Wednesday and take-up has already exceeded expectations.
“The growing influence of supporters’ organisations in Great Britain, in this particular case via the Fanshare scheme at Arsenal FC, is good news for European football and strengthens the concept of financial fair play,” UEFA secretary general Gianni Infantino told the Daily Telegraph this week.
“At a time when the global economic crisis and the lack of financial discipline threatens the very survival of many football clubs, supporter involvement offers a credible and sustainable alternative and we at Uefa welcome any such moves.”
The scheme has also been backed by the Government, with the coalition agreement explicitly encouraging supporters to have more representation at football clubs. The idea of fans having a bigger say in the running of their club also seems to chime with prime minister David Cameron’s ‘big society’ vision.
“Arsenal’s proposal is an enlightened and forward looking way of doing this and makes it affordable for their fans to own a part of their club,” said Hugh Robertson, the sports minister.
“Clearly it is for individual clubs to decide but this is a model I’d like to see other teams explore.” The concept has also generated interest from other clubs, with Supporters Direct – the initiative set up in 2000 by the government to promote fan involvement — hoping that others in the Premier League will now follow.
“Arsenal are seen as one of the ‘big four’ and renowned for being well run so I think this sends a particularly powerful message,” said Dave Boyle, chief executive of Supporters Direct.
“People may say that the scheme is only a pinprick now but you have to start somewhere and in 10 or 15 years time we might look back on this as a very significant moment.”
The idea has already been put into practice in Spain and Germany, but this would be the first time a club in the Premier League has offered such availability to its supporters. Involving fans in the financial workings of a team is an interesting concept, and one that ultimately helps strengthen the bond between supporters and their clubs. Sports clubs are businesses and fans are really consumers of their product on the field. It makes perfect sense to allow each fan a slice of the action. After all, many fans are deeply emotionally invested in their team; why not let them financially invest as well?
“This is something that allows us to pull together participants money and every time shares come up for sale on the open market, as a fan group we can participate in buying those shares,” said Tim Payton, of the Arsenal Supporters’ Trust. “We also know some small shareholders who want to sell to us, so this is a way to keep those shares in the hands of fans.”
22/08/2010
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