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Newcastle Outpaces Chelsea in Premier League’s New Owner Sweepstakes

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·3 min read

The English Premier League will crown the 2022-23 champions in seven weeks, and while the race for the top spot between leaders Arsenal and Manchester City will grab the spotlight, Newcastle United’s rise to the EPL’s top tier after an ownership change deserves attention, too.

Newcastle is currently in third place behind the Gunners and the Citizens after beating Manchester United last week, 2-0. Sky Bet odds have them at 6/5 to finish in the top four this season, which would almost certainly get them into the Champions League for the first time since 2003.

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The Magpies’ performance has taken a 180 in the year and a half since the new Saudi-backed ownership group arrived. At the beginning of the 2021 season, Newcastle was staring at relegation, losing five games and drawing six.  After the sale, the Magpies became the Premier League’s hottest team in the second half of the 2021-22 season, winning 11 of their final 27 games under coach Eddie Howe. That run of success has continued, with the team keeping in or near the top quarter of the table throughout this season.

Newcastle was sold for $415 million to Saudi Arabia’ Public Investment Fund, Amanda Staveley’s PCP Capital Partners and RB Sports & Media. PIF had been in talks with Newcastle’s previous owner Michael James Wallace since 2018, but the sale was stalled because Saudi Arabia suspended beIN, the official broadcaster of EPL in the Middle East. The Qatar-based sports network took the matter all the way to WTO and won. The Newcastle sale moved forward soon after the Saudi government reversed the ban and paid $1 billion in investment arbitration to beIN.

PIF and Staveley paid a fraction of the $3.16 billion that Boehly and Clearlake put out to buy Chelsea just seven months later, but they have been spending heavily to bring the club up to speed. Since PIF took over, they have invested $350 million in player transfers during both the summer and January transfer windows, adding household names Bruno Guimarães and Kieran Trippier, among others, to the squad.

Soccer finance expert Kieron O’Connor said Newcastle’s operating expenses rose from $195 million in 2020-21 season to $323 million in 2021-22 season.

In comparison, Chelsea spent $350 million during the 2022 summer transfer window alone, the most of any team in the Premier League, and another $400 million in this year’s January transfer window. But stars added to the squad—including Raheem Sterling, Joao Felix, Mykhailo Mudryk and Enzo Fernandez—have not paid off, as the team currently sits in 11th place.

While Boehly relied on Clearlake’s deep pockets to fund the transfers, Staveley took advantage of their Saudi backers and brought in sponsors from the kingdom. They added Noon, an online shopping platform with headquarters in Riyadh, as their kit sponsor, and SAUDIA, the club’s official airline partner. Additionally, the team signed a sponsorship deal with Saudi Arabian telecom company STC as their sponsor for a training tour in December. Staveley did not respond Sportico’s request to comment.

“It’s not just the size of their outlay, as they have been massively outspent by Chelsea,” O’Connor said, “but the fact that they have spent their money astutely.”

A Champions League qualification would create significant revenue increases for Newcastle, thanks to CL’s generous payments. When Chelsea won the Champions League in 2021, it hauled in around $130 million in prize money.

Newcastle is the 10th most valuable EPL team, with a $440 million valuation in Sportico’s ranking. Chelsea sits at fifth place, valued $3.47 billion.

The Magpies will play Aston Villa, and Chelsea will face Brighton on Saturday.

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