“Oil money club” is a phrase you often hear when someone wants to be critical of Paris Saint-Germain. It comes about because of the club’s increased financial situation since Qatar Sports Investments took over in 2011.
However, PSG detractors will need to look for new material. According to Culture PSG, the club is becoming less reliant on QSI and its sponsors from the country of Qatar. In fact, they’re not even PSG’s main source of income anymore.
When QSI purchased the club nearly a decade ago, they relied on financial support from local sponsors such as the Qatar Tourism Authority who represented PSG’s largest source of revenue. When the capital club and QTA struck a sponsorship, the value of the deal was initially €145 million annually.
UEFA reportedly devalued PSG's Qatar-based contracts by 37%. QTA contract most affected by FFP. Normally QTA provide €145m per year, but PSG only value it at €100m after their 2014 sanctions. UEFA disagreed with €100m figure, so cut it to around €58m (€42m less).
— Jonathan Johnson (@Jon_LeGossip) June 27, 2018
After the UEFA sanctions in 2014, PSG lowered the value of the sponsorship to €100 million per year. Then, UEFA once again decided to devalue the contract, which meant that Les Parisiens were only bringing in €58 million from the QTA deal.
Fast-forward to 2020, and PSG has grown at a rapid pace, which has landed them on a Forbes list for the fastest-growing team values of the decade. The club has made new deals with Nike, which brings in €80 million per year, another with Accor that brings €70 million per year, and several others that have generated substantial revenue. The biggest sponsorship could be yet to come with the club looking for a title sponsor for the Parc des Princes.
With PSG continuing to grow, expect more lucrative deals with other potential sponsors as the club continues to run on its own with less input from Qatar.
Want more PSG? Visit the PSG Talk Podcast Network page and subscribe to PSG Talking, The 1970, and 24th & Parc.
