Best football club shares to watch
The high stakes involved in managing a football team can affect more than just the players – it can also have an impact on the club’s share price. Find out how you can buy and trade these five football club shares with us.
Football club shares: what you need to know
Before you start investing or trading in football club shares, it’s important to know what drives share prices. While supply and demand is often the primary driver of price, player transfers, team financials, sponsorships and game results also have an impact on a club’s share price.
Just like any other stock, you need to do your research on the football club that you’re interested in. You can do this by means of fundamental analysis and technical analysis, to get a rounded view of the share price potential. You also need to set up and follow your trading plan and employ a suitable risk management strategy that can help you cut losses and lock in profits.
Note that not all football clubs are listed on an exchange, so you can only trade publicly listed football club shares. You can also take a position before and during an initial public offering (IPO) of a football club.1
How to buy or trade shares in a football club
With us, you can follow these steps to invest in or trade football stocks:
- Do your research – we’ve outlined useful information in this guide
- Create an account or log in
- Choose whether to invest or trade
- Pick your football stock
- Open and monitor your position
You can either use a live account with real funds, or practise your trades using a demo account without ever having to make a deposit.
What are the best football club shares to watch?
Please note: These shares aren’t listed from best to worst; they’re among some of the more popular choices among investors who buy and trade football club shares. This update was published in January 2023. For more up-to-date figures, use the IG market screener.
Manchester United PLC (NYSE: MANU)
Share price: $22.82
Market cap: $3.75 billion
Manchester United shares have been trading near all-time highs, amid news of takeover bids from multiple parties, including British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The most valuable football club in the world by market capitalisation saw its share price jump up as much as 78% following reports that its current owners were planning to sell the team.
MANU is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The stock currently has an average price target of $24.67 a share and rating of ‘buy’, based on the latest analyst data published by Thomson Reuters Eikon.
The club saw its revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2023 increase 13.6%, largely driven by commercial revenue. For the rest of fiscal 2023, the company has raised its revenue guidance to be within a range of £590 million ($650 million) to £610 million ($672 million).
Juventus Football Club SpA (MI: JUVE)
Share price: €0.31
Market cap: €765 million ($843 million)
Juventus shares have been falling since the start of 2023, amid a major board shakeup and accounting penalty. On 28 November 2022, the Italian club’s entire board of directors resigned from their positions. This included former president Andrea Agnelli, former vice president Pavel Nedvěd as vice president, and former CEO Maurizio Arrivabene.
Juventus’ stock price then fell as much as 13% on 23 January 2023, after Italy’s soccer authorities slapped the club with a 15-point penalty for errant accounting practices with regards to player transfer transactions.
The penalty pushed Juve, as it is known locally, down to ninth place on the Serie A table this season. With only half a season left to go, it would take a miracle for Juve to qualify for the Champions League. Missing the Champions League would mean a loss of income, as the club raked in 78 million euros in media rights during the 2021-2022 financial year.
Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co KGaA (ETR: BVB)
Share price: €4.11
Market cap: €453 million ($500 million)
Borussia Dortmund shares have an average rating of ‘buy’ and average price target of €5.40 a share, based on the latest Thomson Reuters Eikon analyst data.
German private bank, Hauck Aufhäuser Lampe Privatbank AG, Frankfurt a.M. reiterated a ‘buy’ recommendation and a changed target price of €5.20 in its latest research update.
Meanwhile, US investment research firm, Jefferson Research, recommended a ‘hold’ on the German football club owner’s stock in a January 2023 update.
Their lower rating is due to the company’s weak operating efficiency and balance sheet quality, which offset its strong earnings quality and cash flow quality.
Borussia Dortmund is the owner of Ballspielverein Borussia (BVB), a professional football club based in Dortmund, Germany.
Arsenal Holdings
Unlike the other clubs on this list, Arsenal is not directly listed on a public exchange. Instead, its parent company Arsenal Holdings is traded on the specialist market NEX Exchange.
Shares are rarely traded, and when they are, prices tend to be on the heftier side, with the September 2021 tranche being sold for a reported £30,000 a share.
Arsenal Holdings owns the Arsenal Football Club and 11 other subsidiary companies. These companies deal with stadium management, retail operations and property development.
Arsenal Football Club recorded a loss of £45.5 million for the year ending May 2022, an improvement from the previous year’s loss of £107.3 million.
AS Roma SpA (MI: ASR)
Share price: €0.45
Market cap: €282 million ($311 million)
AS Roma SpA shares are trading at an 18-month high as of the time of publication. The Italy-based professional sports and venues operator’s stock has risen 73% since March 2022.
The company, which primarily operates and manages the AS Roma soccer team, is also involved in the operation of sports venues (such as Fulvio Bernardini in Trigoria) and the organisation of soccer matches. The latter includes match ticket sales, sale of television and radio rights for match transmissions, as well as the sale of rights for its brand.
AS Roma SpA also holds a stake in Soccer Societa in Accomandita Semplice di Brand Management Srl (Soccer SAS), which is engaged in merchandising, publishing, marketing and sponsorship deals.
What to bear in mind before buying football club shares
Investing and trading are two ways that you can get exposure to football club shares. Even though both offer the potential to profit from the financial markets, they differ fundamentally.
Investing means that you will will own the physical shares until you decide to sell them. When investing in football club shares, you need to commit the full value of the investment upfront. If your shares are worth more at the time of selling than when at the time of buying, you'll make a profit. But, if the selling price has fallen before the buying price, you'll incur a loss. While the potential for profit is technically unlimited, your losses are capped at your full initial outlay (excluding any additional fees).
Trading, on the other hand, enables you to predict share price movements without owning the underlying asset – and you can go long or short. This means that you can speculate on rising as well as falling prices. You also don’t need to come up with all the capital upfront, as you’ll trade using leverage. All you need to do is open a position with a small deposit called margin. Keep in mind that leverage magnifies both potential profits and possible losses, and you could lose more than your initial deposit. This makes it vital that you manage your risks properly.
Learn more about how leverage impacts your trading
Spread betting is completely tax free and there’s no capital gains tax (CGT). CFDs aren’t exempt from CGT, but they’re free from stamp duty.4
Discover more differences between spread betting and CFD trading
Buying and trading football shares summed up
- It’s important that you do your research (i.e. what drives share prices), before you start investing in or trading football club shares
- Making use of a risk management strategy can help you cut losses or lock in profits
- Not all football clubs are listed on an exchange, so you can only trade shares of those that are publicly listed
- In the case of IPOs of football clubs, you can take a position before, during and after the listing1
- The football shares listed here are simply some of the more popular choices among those who buy and trade football club shares
Sources:
1 Based on our IPO offering that includes pre-IPO grey markets, primary market access, and trading and investing on the secondary market.
2 Evening Standard, 2021
3 SQaF, 2021
4 Tax laws are subject to change and depend on individual circumstances. Tax law may differ in a jurisdiction other than the UK.
This information has been prepared by IG, a trading name of IG Markets Limited. In addition to the disclaimer below, the material on this page does not contain a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. IG accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of these comments and for any consequences that result. No representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. Consequently any person acting on it does so entirely at their own risk. Any research provided does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation and needs of any specific person who may receive it. It has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such is considered to be a marketing communication. Although we are not specifically constrained from dealing ahead of our recommendations we do not seek to take advantage of them before they are provided to our clients. See full non-independent research disclaimer and quarterly summary.
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