Building for the future

Jim Ratcliffe, Britain’s richest man, has taken over ownership of Ligue 1 club Olympique Gymnaste Club Nice. Ratcliffe opted to buy Nice after previously being linked to Chelsea and Newcastle and being in talks with the English clubs. The billionaire is also the owner of the Swiss second division side, FC Lausanne-Sport. The purchase of OGC Nice seems like a natural progression from second-tier ownership to a first division team of one of Europe’s biggest leagues.

 OGC Nice will gain the much needed financial injection due to Ratcliffe’s investment. He has fully backed current manager Patrick Vieira, the former Arsenal player who took the reins of the club in 2018.  Ratcliffe seems to want to work with Vieira to get Nice, who finished seventh in Ligue 1 last season, to play European football in the next five years.  With the bigger budget, the Aiglons have brought talented young players onboard during the transfer window, namely Kasper Dolberg from (Ajax), Adam Ounas (Napoli), Alexis Claude-Maurice (Lorient) and Stanley Nsoki (PSG) to name a few. 

Ligue 1 attracting money from abroad

Ligue 1 has its fair share of billionaires buying into the franchise and it’s fast becoming a trend for European, American and Middle-East investors to inject their money into the first tier league.  A number of Ligue 1 teams have been taken over by investors from the US or the Gulf in recent years. Although it may be for-profit, more times than not, investing in a football club is a risky investment. Sports teams have a special appeal for billionaires while being able to make them money and also as a fun hobby driven by love for the game. On the business side of sports, the commercialization of media rights is highly lucrative and may drive billionaires to invest more and more into football teams.

 Ligue 1’s appeal as an investment destination is undeniable; the league has been gaining prominence globally with Neymar’s move to PSG in 2016 and the young talent it’s producing like Ivorian midfielder and former Lille player, Nicholas Pepe and Kylian Mbappe. Ratcliffe follows Nasser al-Khelaifi, Qatari businessman and owner of PSG who took over the club in 2011 for €120 million and the Russian billionaire and owner of AS Monaco, Dmitry Rybolovlev who were among the first to pick up on the opportunities in France. Joseph Da Grosa, the American billionaire who bought Girondins de Bordeaux for €75 million euros in 2018 and Olympique de Marseille belongs to another American billionaire, Frank Court who bought the team in 2016.

OGC Nice may not necessarily be the next PSG

There is no team, however, that has had as much financial injection as PSG which features among Europe’s elite group of the richest clubs. PSG’s financial backing outweighs most of the Ligue 1 teams causing a disparity that has some of the other owners claiming PSG as having an unfair advantage in their ability to spent big on players and attracting the top talent. Girondins de Bordeaux owner Joseph Da Grosa has called PSG the bullies of Ligue 1. PSG has a big influence in the French top division and is the most decorated club in the league and top earners to having one of the most star-studded squads in the world, featuring players such as Neymar, Kylian Mbappé, Edinson Cavani and Thiago Silva.

Kylian Mbappe was reported to have setback PSG a €180m to sign from to Monaco and Neymar’s move made headlines as PSG paid a staggering €222 million to Barcelona to sign the Brazilian in 2017; double the cost for Ratcliffe to buy a full stake in  OGC Nice. Neymar’s move to Ligue 1 was an obvious show of PSG’s financial might, however, the controversies surrounding a return to Barcelona and injuries have also prevented the team from profiting from his arrival.  Tuchel’s men have won six titles in the last eight years since Nasser al-Khelaifi under Qatar Sports Investments took over in 2011 and continues to dominate Ligue 1.

Up to this point, teams like OGC Nice have a hard time competing with PSG’s world-class players and overflowing financial backing. PSG will continue to have a financial advantage over fellow Ligue 1 clubs. The scenario is not unlike the financial disparity that happens across the channel in England where the top six teams have a larger endowment than the other clubs in the league or the case of Real Madrid and Barcelona in Spain. In some cases, financial backing does not translate to titles and trophies, case and point Manchester United who spent heavily on buying players but still struggle to make it to the top of the league. 

Despite committing to developing Cote d’Azur side, Ratcliffe’s strategy shies away from spending on individual players like Ligue 1 counterparts PSG. OGC Nice’s season has been off to a slow start grabbing one point in five matches and lie 15th on Ligue 1 standings.

His commitment

For Jim Ratcliffe and OGC Nice, it is unlikely to be any record-breaking signings as he has already alluded. However, Ratcliffe has goals to make OGC Nice compete in Europe regularly over the next few years. Jim Ractliffe plans to finance OGC Nice in the coming years to improve position in the league, and developing facilities of the club.