M-C-O or M-C...No? Multi-Club Ownership in English Football and Its Drivers

Multi-club ownership [MCO] is a concept within the football industry which entails that an owner holds significant stakes in multiple teams. This ownership strategy is not new, however, what are the driving forces of this type of ownership structure and what are the outcomes? The purpose of this study was to explore potential drivers of MCO, to irradiate the concept and determine whether traditional business administration theories can be applied to explain its existence. The main theoretical framework is based upon the shareholder theory and resource-based view of the firm with supplementary reasoning collected from other relevant theories. The study encompasses five seasons and consisted of the teams competing in the top two divisions in the English Football League system. The quantitative study covered six hypotheses and deployed both Two sample t-tests and regression models which sought to measure international player trading activity, sporting performance and financial performance. The results of the study show that multi-club portfolio members [MCPMs] tend to trade a larger share of players internationally compared to Non-MCPMs. However, the other models yielded no significant results in regard to MCPMs, although, value creation through the strategy cannot be disregarded as it may be present through other channels. The wider footballing industry has been studied extensively in previous literature. However, this study is focused on MCO, a topic that lacks a previous body of research. By filling this research gap the authors hope to illuminate the concept and increase transparency for both decision makers (owners of clubs) and supporters of clubs. In addition, a survey which is not empirically tested was conducted in order to help guide the proceedings of the research