Theses on Financial Performance, Valuation and Regulation
Sequencing value: how football clubs enact valuation work to make talent valuable (MSc)
Tobias Frisell and Axel Nordstrand (2025)
Abstract: This thesis examines how Scandinavian football clubs perform valuation work to construct the value of players as financial assets. Anchored in valuation studies and the concept of assetization, the study uses qualitative case studies of two clubs to explore how value is enacted through organizational practices.
The findings show that clubs interpret, credential, and project player value across three temporal phases: contracting, development, and selling. This valuation work is shaped by dual alignment: organizational alignment between sporting and financial logics, and individual alignment between players and expectations of future value.
By introducing a temporal perspective, the study shows how clubs continuously reconfigure value over time, extending static models of valuation. The findings contribute to valuation studies by offering a dynamic, practice-oriented understanding of how economic value is co-produced in organizations.
Private equity investments in European and Italian football: trends and drivers of interest (MSc)
Massimo Branchi (2024)
Abstract: This thesis provides an overview of the European and Italian football industries from a financial investor’s perspective. It analysesaggregate financial data from football clubs and presents the regulatory framework, including UEFA Financial Fair Play and Financial Sustainability Regulations.
The study identifies key drivers behind private equity’s growing interest in European and Italian football.
Purchasing passion: a case study on the valuation of football players in Swedish clubs (BSc)
Johan Hägerström and Martin Wahlström (2022)
Abstract: Each year, football clubs worldwide spend billions of dollars acquiring new players. This study examines how Swedish football clubs value players in transfer situations.
Using semi-structured interviews with individuals involved in the transfer process, the study identifies four steps in valuation: setting up the valuation, informing the valuation, forming a value opinion, and presenting an offer.
The findings show that valuation relies heavily on experience and judgment rather than data-driven models. In addition to sporting and business logics, a third logic - fan logic - also influences decision-making.
Johan Lundberg and Gustav Davidsson (2022)
Abstract: This study examines the relationship between financial performance and sports performance in English football’s top two leagues - the Premier League and the Championship - during 1998–2019.
The findings show a strong correlation between wage expenditure and sports performance in both leagues. In the Premier League, profitability is positively correlated with sports performance, while wage margin is negatively correlated. Player amortization margins show no significant relationship with sports performance.
Andreas Rylander and Lucas Ternqvist (2022)
Abstract: This study examines the relationship between sports performance and financial valuation in English football, using data from 72 clubs in the Premier League and the EFL Championship between 1998 and 2019.
Using a multivariate valuation model and regression analysis, the findings suggest a clear relationship between sports performance and financial valuation. An exponential relationship is identified in the Premier League. The study also evaluates the model by comparing results with the market capitalization of Manchester United.
Relationship between financial and sporting performance (BSc)
Hamza Ali (2020)
Abstract: Football clubs have experienced increased revenues, wages, and transfer activity in recent decades. At the same time, financial challenges have affected sporting performance.
This study examines whether there is a relationship between financial and sporting performance in Swedish football. The findings show strong links between financial conditions and on-field performance. Positive relationships are found for staff-related variables, while negative relationships are found for changes in turnover and financing choices.
The presence of earnings management after the introduction of Financial Fair Play (BSc)
Madeleine Martinsson and Abraham Yekeku (2020)
Abstract: This study investigates whether earnings management increased after the introduction of UEFA Financial Fair Play and whether it is related to on-field performance.
Using two models and data from Premier League clubs (2004–2017), the findings indicate an increase in earnings management following the regulation. The results also show a positive relationship between on-field performance and earnings manipulation.
Football player acquisitions (BSc)
William Gjerulf and Mike Pettersson (2020)
Abstract: This study examines how player acquisitions affect share prices for publicly listed football clubs.
Using an event study of 174 transfers between 2009 and 2019, the findings show positive abnormal returns in the days following transfer announcements. The study also finds a positive relationship between transfer spending and commercial revenues.
Predicting financial distress in football (MSc)
Christoffer Gerdin and Christian Rump (2017)
Abstract: This study develops a probit model to predict financial distress in European football clubs.
The model combines traditional financial variables with industry-specific factors and is tested on 208 clubs between 2006 and 2016. The findings show that the model improves classification compared to simple decision rules, although accuracy is lower than in other industries due to the unique conditions of football.