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France's Richest Club Revealed - And It's Not Who you Think
Blogs

France's Richest Club Revealed - And It's Not Who you Think

Who are the richest club in France?

On Thursday, what appeared to be a standard headline filtered out of the French football pyramid and into the wider world. A Paris-based football team had been purchased by the Arnaults family, founders and owners of LVMH (better known as Louis Vuitton), and promised significant financial backing to the team.

However, where this headline deviates from the norm is that it is not focused around France’s Premier club and Champions League finalists Paris Saint Germain. Instead, the luxury moguls are purchasing Paris FC, the capital’s second best side, who are currently languishing in Ligue 2.

Furthermore, Thursday’s announcement added that Red Bull would also be taking a minority stake in the club (around 15%) to go along with the Arnaults 55%, which is through the family’s holding company, Agache. While the luxury brand owners may not have a history in successful football development, Red Bull certainly do, and this move could shake up the entire French footballing scene in the coming years.

So what does this mean for Paris FC, and more broadly, for French football? Why have the Arnault family decided to venture into football? And could this kick-start a competitive era in Ligue 1, after so many years of PSG dominance?

Why have the Arnaults purchased Paris FC?

Paris FC haven’t played in Ligue since 1979, have no major achievements or trophies to speak of, and don’t even have all that much history, with the club only being founded in 1969. While the women's team are a force to be recommended on the ladies scene, the men have been floundering, and only now have they finally been able to drag themselves away from irrelevancy. On the face of things, there are far more attractive clubs to purchase a majority stake in.

However, less than two weeks ago, they secured promotion back to the top division of French football for the first time in 46 years, a huge achievement for a club that had grown so used to mediocrity.

What better time than during a promotion party for a company worth $129 billion to take over the club? Paris fans must have been in dreamland - a tycoon takeover is a rare thing in the football world, even more so for a side that technically still resides in the second division. It seems the Arnaults decided to invest while the club was riding a wave of momentum, giving them a summer to rebuild the club for the top tier.

But why did they buy the club? Firstly, it is a perfect branding opportunity - you can safely bet that the Louis Vuitton logo will be on the front of the Paris FC shirt within a couple of seasons.

But more importantly, it seems that despite the struggles of running the most valuable luxury brand on the planet, the French family still have time to follow their passions.

Antoine Arnault, son of LV boss Bernard, said upon the announcement that he will be the family representative on the clubs' board: “Football has long been a great passion for us. We are very hopeful that gradually, we will together write a new and exceptional chapter in French Football History, without setting any specific objective at this stage.”

Clearly, it is more than just a business opportunity for the Arnaults - they appear to have a genuine passion for the sport. And many will say that if you can’t play the sport, the next best thing is to own one of its clubs.

What is Red Bulls role in the purchase of Paris FC?

The addition of Red Bull cannot be understated either. The energy drink giants now own a multitude of football clubs, most notably Salzburg in Austria and Leipzig in Germany, both of whom are serious threats in the Austrian and German top flights respectively.

To have them on board at Paris FC is a huge added benefit. Red Bull run clubs have become notorious for being well run on a tight budget, and more importantly, for scouting and producing elite level talent. Names such as Benjamin Sesko, Dayot Upamecano, Erling Haaland and Dominic Szboszlai all went through Salzburg, while players such as Ibrahima Konate, Marcel Sabitzer and Timo Werner came to prominence at Leipzig.

To have such a company with as much experience as Red Bull in running a sustainable football club will be a huge change at Paris FC, who can now look forward to years of meticulous scouting and painstaking negotiating in order to land some of the most exciting talent out there.

In addition, it was only this month that Red Bull announced that former Liverpool manager and legendary manager Jurgen Klopp had been appointed as the brand's head of global soccer, with his job to oversee and direct their global network of clubs.

With such footballing knowledge on board, it seems that Parisian’s have a lot to look forward to over the coming years. And while Paris FC may not be renamed to Red Bull Paris due to the company’s minority stake, the importance of Red Bull oversight behind the scenes will be critically important.

They will make sure that the club is run as tightly as its sister teams, and thanks to the Arnault’s significant financial backing, and Jurgen Klopp's well documented eye for talent, they will also ensure they get value for money when they enter the market for Ligue 1 standard players ahead of next season.

What does this mean for French Football?

Although it is obviously too early to say this with any certainty, Arnault's takeover of Paris FC could have a seismic impact on French, and potentially European football.

It will certainly change the Parisian football scene. Paris FC’s promotion earlier this month confirmed that for the first time in 36 years, two Paris-based teams would be competing in France’s top tier, a remarkable stat in itself.

Paris has been a footballing anomaly for some time. While some places, such as London, Madrid, and Manchester have multiple high profile names playing in their respective top flights, Paris has only ever been able to boast PSG as it’s major stand-out, and it is important to remember that the Saudi-backed clubs success only truly took off in the early 2010’s.

Perhaps the Arnaults want to bury the argument that France is a weak footballing nation, with the capital only able to produce one good team at a time. It is a strange argument, given that the region has produced countless greats, such as N’Golo Kante and Thierry Henry. Despite this, French football simply doesn’t have the draw of other top five leagues, leading to talent leaving in search of greatness elsewhere.

Should the early years of the project at Paris FC succeed, then this could change; Paris Saint Germain would finally have a city derby, adding spice to their respective fixtures, and if Red Bull work their usual magic, then two Parisian team would start to be competing with each other at the top of the table, forming a rivalry that would stir thoughts of the fiery meetings between Madrid’s two principle sides, Atletico and Real.

There are no real downsides to the takeover of Paris FC - they cannot be hit with “oil money accusation”, and the majority would support any side trying to overthrow Luis Enrique’s PSG juggernaut, simply in the name of change.

If things really do snowball to the point where Paris FC are competing for the title, they will also enter European competition as a result, a huge step for any side who finds themselves in the second tier in the 2020’s. If and when this happens, it will no longer be up for debate if Paris FC is an elite club. If they are good enough to compete on a continental scale, they are certainly good enough to challenge regionally, and I speak for all football fans when I say I hope they do.

Although their ambitions will not be so lofty next season, the very least we can expect is a solid campaign in which they secure safety. The announcement of the club takeover will catch the attention of more than a few players looking to join a new project, so keep an eye on their recruitment over the summer - the luxury brand backed club now has plenty of draw, and could well put together a formidable team ahead of 2025/26.

Benji Kosartiyer
Journalist
Harry Pascoe

Lead Writer

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