Has Abu Dhabi United Group's $1 Billion Sports Investment Paid Off?

posted on: Mar 28, 2020

Investors from the Middle East have long been drawn to global sporting brands and assets when searching for lucrative revenue streams. France’s Paris St Germain football team is owned by Qatar Sports Investments, the UAE flagship carrier Etihad has stadiums in the UK and Australia bearing its logo, and some of the biggest Premier League teams are owned by billionaires from Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.

One of the largest and most influential sports investors in the region is the Abu Dhabi United Group, founded and owned by Sheikh Mansour of Abu Dhabi, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister of the UAE. The organization wields control over City Football Group, a massive holding company based in London that enjoys a majority stake in some of the biggest and most promising football clubs in the world.

To date, the Abu Dhabi United Group has invested a whopping $1 billion in its sports assets, with plans to ramp up investments in the future. But have these massive investments been paying off so far? Let’s take a look to find out.

Manchester City FC

The crown jewel in Abu Dhabi United Group’s investment portfolio is undoubtedly Manchester City football club. Purchased by the group in 2008 for a then-record £210 million, it has since received considerable investment and grown in value to become the fifth-highest valued club in the world at around $2.69 billion. The club has gone from strength-to-strength, with 2019 being its best year on record due to Man City winning the FA Cup, the EFL Cup, the Premier League, and the Community Shield, making them one of the only teams to ever achieve a domestic treble.

New York City FC

When the idea of establishing the New York City football club was first floated 15 years ago, plenty of eyebrows were raised. Few people thought that a North American soccer club could become a viable commercial vehicle in the same way that the European ones could. However, Abu Dhabi Group clearly saw potential here, as they quickly bought an 80% stake in the club. Today it is worth around $385 million and is one of the top performers in the MLS. A quick glance at the major sports betting sites shows that they currently enjoy favorable odds in their upcoming game against Dallas, one of the top teams in the league, whilst their odds of being the outright league winners are also better than average. Not bad for such a young team.

Melbourne City FC

Founded in 2010, Melbourne City is another young club that has shown immense promise since Abu Dhabi Group decided to take the reigns. Once known as the Melbourne Hearts, the name change came along in 2015 as part of a major re-brand when Abu Dhabi decided to go all-in and acquire a 100% stake in the club. Their 2016-17 squad, put together with the help of the club’s Emirati chairman, Khaldoon al Mubarak, has entered the record books as the most expensive squad in Australian history, costing $9.15 million to put together. Although this is small change compared to the big European squads, it shows that Abu Dhabi Group firmly believes that the English-style football of the A-League will become a big business in Australia in the years ahead. Whether this investment will pay off remains too soon to say, as the A-League still has a lot of catching up to do before it enjoys anywhere near the levels of profitability as Aussie Rules.

If there’s one key takeaway here, it’s that the Abi Dhabi United Group is serious about global soccer. As one of the most influential funds in the UAE, how they spend their money matters. They clearly believe that soccer is going to take off outside of Europe and Latin America in a big way in the near future, but only time will tell if they are correct.

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