NCF announces a new lender and football loan model, which is exempt from Financial Fair Play Rules.

New Century Finance is delighted to announce a new lender and borrowing model that does not compromise financial fair play regulations.

What is this new football finance lending model?

In essence, the borrowing is off the balance sheet. The lender purchases season tickets for the 2023 and 2024/25 seasons at a discounted rate of the fixed purchase price for each season.

The Club are then appointed as an undisclosed agent to sell the purchased tickets on behalf of the lender to its fans, selling them alongside all other remaining tickets as the club usually would. The fans would have no knowledge whatsoever that any lender was involved.

As the club’s season tickets are sold, all sales are received in a controlled Bank account with control initially held by the Lender. Once the lender has earned the capital it invested for the season plus a pre-agreed premium, control reverts back to the Club.

All excess proceeds generated from remaining season ticket sales are retained by the Club.

The above process will repeat for the following season.

What are the benefits of this?

The benefits of this type of lending are:-

• Immediate liquidity ahead of ticket sales for future seasons.
• No security is taken and the structure adopts a true sale concept, without recourse to the Club.
• The club remains in full control of the fan relationship and ticket-purchasing experience.
• Liquidity is unlocked irrespective of playing performance for the next two seasons.
• Beneficial approach for all external financing sources, including lenders who view the financing as locked-in revenues.
• Scalable and repetitive model, with a tested financing structure.
• A partnership approach with strong alignment from both Club and Lender.

How many season tickets will be bought?

Typically the lender will buy 75% of season 23/24 and 55% of season 24/25. for 2023/24 and 2024/25 seasons at a discount of the fixed purchase price for each season.

What is the purpose of this new lending method?

The new lender and NCF have designed this new way of lending to provide a solution for clubs who are struggling to meet the Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations set by UEFA. The process allows teams to borrow with no financial impact on their FFP compliance. This means that clubs can acquire additional funds without any detriment to their already precarious financial situation.

We are delighted to announce we already have 1 deal well underway and lots more in the pipeline.

For more information regarding this new lending option, please contact Richard Price at rwp@newcenturyfinance.co.uk.