Political Factors of PSG:
A political factor which influences PSG are the rivalries it has with other teams and cities. This is shown in a match called Le Classique (Derby de France). It is a match between Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique de Marseille. They are the two largest cities in France, Paris being the centre of style and society in France facing off against Marseille which is largely dominated by the working class. The competition differs in that the cities aren't close together, it is north against south which ads another political dimension to it. The reasons that this competition takes place only between these two clubs are that they are the only clubs to have won European trophies as well as the fact that they have been the strongest teams for a long time, only being somewhat contested by Olympique Lyonnais. Due to their strength, they have gained a national fan base, while other teams, excluding Saint-Étienne, haven't been able to do so. As a result the clubs are also the most popular in and outside of France, which adds a greater appeal to the event. However, there are tensions which rise among the two groups. Therefore security is very important and is quite intensive at the event so to try and minimize the amount of altercations that take place, however some usually do still happen. The importance of football to the French is clearly highlighted here, as people's behaviors towards each other are drastically affected by which football team they support, which can eventually lead to violence. |
Organizational Factors of PSG:
Establishment and Issues: PSG was first founded in 1970 due to the financial backing of Guy Cresent, Pierre-Étienne Guyot and Henri Patrelle, all of which are wealthy local businessmen. There have been many economic troubles that PSG has undergone over its lifespan. Firstly, although they started off well in the 1970-71 season and had a lot of profit with 1.5 million francs, over the coming years the club's debt has grown and the trend has reversed. In response to this downturn, PSG president Henri Patrelle looked for financial aid and found it in the form of investor Daniel Hechter in 1973. As a result the club was given professional status, however Hechter was later indefinitely banned from football by the French Football Federation due to the double ticketing which took place at the Parc des Princes in 1978. What this means is that he would present the customers with two tickets and then charge the more expensive one, which is an illegal pricing practice. As a result, Hechter was replaced by Francis Borelli. However he managed the club in a very old style, which didn't allow PSG to handle the blossoming business of football as well as they could of during the 1980s. This caused them to be in a debt of 50 million francs by the early 1990s and the Paris City Council as well as the Mayor of Paris wouldn't relieve them of it, for the first time. |
Ups and Downs with Canal+ : Canal+, a French TV channel wiped clean the debt PSG was in when they bought the club in 1991. This helped PSG drastically as 40% of the club's income came from the televised games, and as a result, allowed it to become one of the richest clubs in France. The club's majority of shares were bought by Canal+ in 1997 and by 2005, Canal+ became the sole shareholder. The management of the club fell into the hands of Michel Denisot who was appointed by Canal+ in the 1990s. Denisot did fairly well, allowing the club to maintain its finances and keep its expenditures at €50m per season in the time of 1991-1998, which was largely done due to the increase in TV rights as well as the clubs exceptional performance in both national, and European competitions, and finally the growing number of spectators at the Parc des Princes. Densoit left in 1998, which resulted in debt to accumulate, amassing to €96m in 2002. However this debt was tempered down to €8m in 2004 by the restructuring of the club's finances, however the club's finances were still in trouble. In the time period of 2004-2006, PSG was the only French club with a large amount of debt (€30m). Fortunately, this was somewhat helped by the club's turnover increasing from €69m to €80m.
Goodbye Canal+: In 2006, Canal+ sold PSG for 41 million euros to the investment firms, Colony Capital, Butler Capital Partners as well as Morgan Stanley. PSG's new owners increased its turnover to 100 million euros, therefore, the club's losses began to decrease, finally to 5 million euros in 2009. Then, Colony Capital bought the majority of shares of Butler Capital Partners in 2008 while, they still held a 5% stake in PSG. In 2009, Colony Capital then bought out Morgan Stanley, causing them to become 95% owners of the club. In 2010, they sent out a message, stating that they wanted new investors to help make PSG a title contender in the coming years. Hello Qatar Sports Investments: In 2011 Qatar Sports Investments became the majority shareholder of PSG, when they bought 70% of the shares. This resulted in Colony Capital holding 29% and Butler Capital Partners holding 1% and both continued to be minority shareholders. This deal took place in that, QSI bought the shares for €50m, which allowed for €15-20m in debt as well as €19m in losses to be wiped clean, from the 2010–11 season. As a result, PSG became the richest club in France and one of the richest in the world. Finally, in 2012 QSI bought the other 30% in shares and became the sole shareholder of PSG, which was valued at €100m. |