Every year the promotion and relegation battle lead us to some exciting new clubs who either have stepped into top-tier football for the first time in history or have returned after a long gap. It is always heartening to see such clubs like Ipswich Town, Luton Town, FC St. Pauli, Como FC etc. rise to the top and even more welcoming if they manage to hold their position, although not much success has been seen.
Although the 24/25 season is still going on, we already witnessing some heritage clubs returning back to the top-tier. This blog is dedicated to two such clubs, Paris FC promoted to Ligue 1 and Pisa SC promoted to Serie A, both of whom return to top tier football after a long gap.
Paris FC
After a gap of 46 years, Paris FC has made a comeback and now faces their one-time brother, PSG. As the official Ligue 1 website puts it eloquently, Paris FC and PSG are “two brothers that were separated at birth”.
The return of Paris FC is interesting in many ways. In late 2024, French billionaire and LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault joined forces with Red Bull to acquire a controlling stake in Paris FC where majority at 52.4% is owned by Arnault’s family while Red Bull owns a 10.6% share. The balance is divided between Pierre Ferracci, owning 29.8% and BRI Sports Holdings owning the remaining 7.2%. Reports indicate Arnault’s stake is expected to increase to 85% by 2027. This makes Paris FC the sixth club in the Red Bull family thus making the club a part of the multi-club ownership (MCO) network.
The collaboration between LVMH and Red Bull brings in exciting prospects for Paris FC. On one hand, Red Bull has the operational experience in top tier football for over twenty years and with Jürgen Klopp as the Director of Football, they have shown serious intent on becoming a leading MCO group. One can only expect them to become a strong force in French football in due course of time. On the other hand, LVMH with its range of global brands like Luis Vuitton, Tag Heuer etc. extends that array of global presence and visibility. LVMH, a known name in fashion space, may mark a new edition in football-fashion, a space dominated by PSG for a long time. Further, LVMH’s presence in F1 can also be integrated cross-promotion capabilities making Paris FC an attractive commercial property.
Paris FC’s promotion comes at a time when there’s a huge uncertainty regarding the media rights deal from the 25/26 season. Our earlier blog detailed the situation and the way forward. Had the existing deal with DAZN plus BeIN in place, it would have given Paris FC a 6X jump on broadcasting revenue from their existing 4-year average of €4.85mn to approximately €30.6 mn. But it remains to be seen how the DTC option or any deal with Canal+ progresses.
One area which Paris FC will have to look at is the wages to revenue (W/R) ratio. The last 4-year post pandemic average has been at 108% which is way above the recommended 70% mark. The jump to top-tier would most certainly lead to an increase in revenue but there would also be a considerable increase in the wages too. A balance would be required.
That said, we look forward to see Paris FC in action and grow!
Pisa SC
The club, founded in 1909 as Pisa Sporting Club has undergone multiple changes in its over its 115+ years of existence, in ownership and name due to its economic troubles leading to a yo-yo like path shuttling between leagues. In 2021, clubs finally changed its name back to Pisa Sporting Club and has now returned to Serie A after 34 years.
A fun fact, Pisa coach Filippo Inzaghi, who secured their promotion to Serie A will now be facing Inter Milan managed by his brother Simone Inzaghi and is being termed as ‘the brother’s derby’!
Pisa is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Italy primarily known for the Leaning Tower of Pisa attracting over 5million tourists per year. The tourism factor gives the club a natural assistance in making it instantly recognizable across the world and thereby adding to the commercial attractiveness of the club, especially now that they will playing highest level of football and will be seen over international media.
Pisa SC in Serie A also marks the increase in the count of football clubs as a part of multi-club ownership networks. The club’s majority owner, Alexander Knaster, a Russian – American citizen with 75% stake also sits on the board of Eagle Football Group which has multiple clubs across Europe as a part of their holdings (as below) and is also indirectly linked to a minority shareholding in Rangers FC, Scotland.
- Crystal Palace – Premier League.
- Molenbeek – Belgium second division.
- Olympique Lyon – Ligue 1.
- Botafogo – Brazil second tier.
- FC Florida – A member of National Premier Soccer League in USA.
Here’s wishing Pisa SC a bright stay in Serie A!
In Conclusion
The promotion of Pisa SC and Paris FC brings a new hope of promising clubs, each having their own core strength with the underlined commonality of international focus. Although the statistics have not been very kind to promoted clubs with 63% of them reported to be relegating within 2 seasons, we sincerely wish these clubs do well and rise further!
