CFG Expansion | Başakşehir to join? (p70)

Please ignore the thoughts of someone who can't leave bed for a few days.

Preseason 2023/24 should have a CFG football festival. With the Academy Stadium, Etihad and regional athletics stadium, teams from the CFG could play a knock out cup. Winner plays City at the Etihad.

Fans would surely be intrigued. It'd attract a few travelling fans too.

could even have pre qualification a week before:
Yokohama F. Marinos / Mumbai City / Sichuan Jiuniu* (group A)
NYC / Montevideo / Melbourne City (group B)

Palermo v Lommel SK
Troyes v Girona
group A winner v guest team
City EDS v ASIA winner

I used to play Football Manager as a kid. Every time I see City linked with buying another quality club, I get giddy about how we can develop and tap regions to bring through new players. Forget the commercial aspects. Every association with another corner of the world is a little bit of the City spirit.

*Sichuan Jiuniu finally switched to playing in sky blue this season. Fans and their board has criticized an away kit of this colour last season.
 
hey there, my dear friends of Blue Moon! it is finally happening!

Ferran Soriano has just arrived in Brazil, this morning. Alongside him, also Roel de Vries, Omar Berrada and Diego Gigliani are here... the public announcement of the purchase of Bahia by CFG is set to take place tomorrow evening. We, the Bahia supporters, are absolutely delighted with this historical moment for our club!

Cheers!

https://www.si.com/soccer/mancheste...-closing-in-on-purchase-of-esporte-club-bahia
 
This is also in the NYC FC thread in the General Forum, but perhaps is worth noting here as well, as this is a major step that CFG have been working towards for a long time. They've finally done a deal for a stadium in New York City, which should be built by 2027. CFG is footing the bill itself rather than relying on the kind of subsidies from local government that are common in the States for the construction of major sports venues. It's a BIG deal for CFG.

It looks a pretty impressive development, as well. It involves a 25K-seater stadium, affordable housing and a hotel as well as retail, and is based in Queens, so within the five boroughs. As the Red Bulls are outside the city boundaries, the latter point was vital: NYC FC can continue to claim to be the team of New York City itself.

The venue is close to Citi Field, home of the Mets (with whom they'll share car parking space), and to Flushing Meadows, the US National Tennis Centre which hosts the US Open. The retail part of the offer presumably includes bars and restaurants, so one could see this becoming the closest that the city has to a dedicated sports district.

The story in the New York Times is here: New York City Reaches Deal to Build Soccer Stadium in Queens

It requires registration, though, so I've copied the opening paras below:

New York City Reaches Deal to Build Soccer Stadium in Queens​

The New York City Football Club will pay roughly $780 million to build the stadium in Willets Point in Queens as part of a project that will include housing and a hotel.

By Dana Rubinstein and Ken Belson
Nov. 15, 2022

New York City officials have reached an agreement to build the city’s first professional soccer stadium, the centerpiece of a giant mixed-use development that would transform a long-underutilized waterfront section of Queens.

The 25,000-seat stadium for the New York City Football Club is slated to rise on city land by 2027 in the Willets Point neighborhood of Queens, across the street from the right field foul pole of Citi Field, the home of the New York Mets, Mayor Eric Adams and the soccer team’s officials confirmed on Tuesday.

The stadium would be the first significant major-league sports venue to be built in the city since 2012, and is set to be the focal point of a 23-acre project that includes a 250-room hotel and 2,500 units of housing. Officials say the project would be the city’s largest development of entirely affordable housing since the Mitchell-Lama developments of the 1970s


The deal represents Mayor Eric Adams’s most ambitious economic development initiative and comes as he is about to complete his first year in office. It also spells the end of two sagas: the team’s decade-long search for a dedicated soccer stadium and an even longer conundrum about the future of Willets Point, a once thriving conglomeration of auto body shops.



“Queens, which is the world’s borough, now will become the home of soccer, which is the world’s sport,” Maria Torres-Springer, the deputy mayor for economic and workforce development, said in an interview on Tuesday.
Unlike many stadium deals, including one for the Buffalo Bills negotiated this year by Gov. Kathy Hochul that included nearly $900 million in public funds, city officials said subsidies for this project are largely limited to infrastructure improvements at the site and property tax breaks for the stadium.


...
Click to expand...

And here's an image of the proposed stadium and surrounds:

NYC stadium.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
petrusha said:
This is also in the NYC FC thread in the General Forum, but perhaps is worth noting here as well, as this is a major step that CFG have been working towards for a long time. They've finally done a deal for a stadium in New York City, which should be built by 2027. CFG is footing the bill itself rather than relying on the kind of subsidies from local government that are common in the States for the construction of major sports venues. It's a BIG deal for CFG.

It looks a pretty impressive development, as well. It involves a 25K-seater stadium, affordable housing and a hotel as well as retail, and is based in Queens, so within the five boroughs. As the Red Bulls are outside the city boundaries, the latter point was vital: NYC FC can continue to claim to be the team of New York City itself.

The venue is close to Citi Field, home of the Mets (with whom they'll share car parking space), and to Flushing Meadows, the US National Tennis Centre which hosts the US Open. The retail part of the offer presumably includes bars and restaurants, so one could see this becoming the closest that the city has to a dedicated sports district.

The story in the New York Times is here: New York City Reaches Deal to Build Soccer Stadium in Queens

It requires registration, though, so I've copied the opening paras below:



And here's an image of the proposed stadium and surrounds:

View attachment 61047
Click to expand...
A major step for the group, the investment is huge !
 
waspish said:
Looks like New York City a finally able to build a new stadium!

www.nytimes.com

New York City Reaches Deal to Build Soccer Stadium in Queens (Published 2022)

The New York City Football Club will pay roughly $780 million to build the stadium in Willets Point in Queens as part of a project that will include housing and a hotel.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
Click to expand...
Huge investment by the group and I'm sure it will be a successful investment as the research and homework will undoubtedly have been done etc...this is great news for the fans of NYCFC .
 
radcliffe1309 said:
A major step for the group, the investment is huge !
Click to expand...
I think it's great and will help nail the fake "sportswashing" narrative. This is a huge investment in New York and follows a similar pattern to what we have seen in Manchester..a major partnership with the local council with big community benefits. Apparently it's the biggest affordable housing project in the area since the 1970s. Sheikh Mansour has already made a huge profit from his investments in Manchester and now he is making a huge step in New York. Anyone in the media who still thinks he is doing this for political reasons and not for profit is crazy.
The only downside is it may impact on the North Stand expansion. The CFG group will have its hands full with this complex US project.
 
Also on CFG, this is worth noting:



When I read this on Saturday, it was the first mention I'd seen of a new company in the structure - City Football Group (Midco) Limited. I went through its filings with the registrar of companies and what I diuscovered was as follows:
  • it was incorporated in May this year;
  • in July, it registered two charges, an action showing it had become a party to security agreements relating to the financial arrangements of its sole shareholder, the parent company City Football Group Limited; and
  • six directors were appointed on 14 September this year, all of them directors of the parent company, as is John Macbeath, who was already a director upon incorporation.
Stefan says it's now the holding company for MCFC, which would mean there's been some kind of group reorganisation recently beyond simply a new group company being created. And the fact that they've given the company the authority to raise over GBP 817 million of new share capital also suggests that something is going on - especially as we're talking about a level below the group's ultimate holding company.

If anyone wants to dig around some out more, follow the respective links to the publicly available information held at Companies House for City Football Group Limited and City Football Group (Midco) Limited.

One point of interest is that the board of Midco comprises the entire board of the parent company bar one. The big-hitters are there - including Khaldoon, Simon Pearce, Marty Edelman, Egon Durban (co-CEO of Silverlake), and Abdulla Khouri (the events expert from Abu Dhabi, who chairs the company operating the Yas F1 circuit and the Emirate's leading music, sports, and entertainment events company). That seems to indicate we're dealing with a company of genuine substance, not just a minor subsidiary. Interestingly, missing is Ruigang Li, the representative of the Chinese shareholder CMC Holdings Limited, though he remains on the board of the parent company.

So, what's going on? With CFG currently engaged as an equal partner in the construction of the largest indoor arena in Europe and a USD 800 investment forthcoming on NYC FC's stadium, the obvious temptation is to ascribe the most likely reason to something relating to infrastructure development. The sum is simply too big to reflect the company wanting to create an opportunity to issue shares in the event of some vague and as-yet-unknown future need.

Another wrinkle is Li alone not being a director but remaining on the board of City Football Group Limited. Does this suggest that the Chinese shareholder is interested in CFG in general as a global business but not especially in whatever Midco will be doing? Or, especially given the dilution of its stake when Silverlake came on board, are we seeing the Chinese investor gradually slip away from the venture?

We simply don't have enough information to make even an educated guess as to what may be happening. It's probably therefore futile to speculate further, but better instead to keep a watching brief on events. For those, like me, who are football business nerds, it promises all to be very interesting and, potentially, extremely exciting.
 
petrusha said:
Also on CFG, this is worth noting:



When I read this on Saturday, it was the first mention I'd seen of a new company in the structure - City Football Group (Midco) Limited. I went through its filings with the registrar of companies and what I diuscovered was as follows:
  • it was incorporated in May this year;
  • in July, it registered two charges, an action showing it had become a party to security agreements relating to the financial arrangements of its sole shareholder, the parent company City Football Group Limited; and
  • six directors were appointed on 14 September this year, all of them directors of the parent company, as is John Macbeath, who was already a director upon incorporation.
Stefan says it's now the holding company for MCFC, which would mean there's been some kind of group reorganisation recently beyond simply a new group company being created. And the fact that they've given the company the authority to raise over GBP 817 million of new share capital also suggests that something is going on - especially as we're talking about a level below the group's ultimate holding company.

If anyone wants to dig around some out more, follow the respective links to the publicly available information held at Companies House for City Football Group Limited and City Football Group (Midco) Limited.

One point of interest is that the board of Midco comprises the entire board of the parent company bar one. The big-hitters are there - including Khaldoon, Simon Pearce, Marty Edelman, Egon Durban (co-CEO of Silverlake), and Abdulla Khouri (the events expert from Abu Dhabi, who chairs the company operating the Yas F1 circuit and the Emirate's leading music, sports, and entertainment events company). That seems to indicate we're dealing with a company of genuine substance, not just a minor subsidiary. Interestingly, missing is Ruigang Li, the representative of the Chinese shareholder CMC Holdings Limited, though he remains on the board of the parent company.

So, what's going on? With CFG currently engaged as an equal partner in the construction of the largest indoor arena in Europe and a USD 800 investment forthcoming on NYC FC's stadium, the obvious temptation is to ascribe the most likely reason to something relating to infrastructure development. The sum is simply too big to reflect the company wanting to create an opportunity to issue shares in the event of some vague and as-yet-unknown future need.

Another wrinkle is Li alone not being a director but remaining on the board of City Football Group Limited. Does this suggest that the Chinese shareholder is interested in CFG in general as a global business but not especially in whatever Midco will be doing? Or, especially given the dilution of its stake when Silverlake came on board, are we seeing the Chinese investor gradually slip away from the venture?

We simply don't have enough information to make even an educated guess as to what may be happening. It's probably therefore futile to speculate further, but better instead to keep a watching brief on events. For those, like me, who are football business nerds, it promises all to be very interesting and, potentially, extremely exciting.
Click to expand...

Wait till Sheikh Mansour gets bored.. oh.
 
Is this just a way of raising money for infrastructure without disturbing the share holdings of CFG? Also, CFG have an arrangement with a group of banks to draw down £500m for infrastructure and group IT development which won’t nearly cover NYC complex.
Huge investment going on. Sportswashing? Pfft!
Alternatively, money is needed to pay Ld.Pannick’s £20,000 per day fees.
 
Last edited:
petrusha said:
Also on CFG, this is worth noting:



When I read this on Saturday, it was the first mention I'd seen of a new company in the structure - City Football Group (Midco) Limited. I went through its filings with the registrar of companies and what I diuscovered was as follows:
  • it was incorporated in May this year;
  • in July, it registered two charges, an action showing it had become a party to security agreements relating to the financial arrangements of its sole shareholder, the parent company City Football Group Limited; and
  • six directors were appointed on 14 September this year, all of them directors of the parent company, as is John Macbeath, who was already a director upon incorporation.
Stefan says it's now the holding company for MCFC, which would mean there's been some kind of group reorganisation recently beyond simply a new group company being created. And the fact that they've given the company the authority to raise over GBP 817 million of new share capital also suggests that something is going on - especially as we're talking about a level below the group's ultimate holding company.

If anyone wants to dig around some out more, follow the respective links to the publicly available information held at Companies House for City Football Group Limited and City Football Group (Midco) Limited.

One point of interest is that the board of Midco comprises the entire board of the parent company bar one. The big-hitters are there - including Khaldoon, Simon Pearce, Marty Edelman, Egon Durban (co-CEO of Silverlake), and Abdulla Khouri (the events expert from Abu Dhabi, who chairs the company operating the Yas F1 circuit and the Emirate's leading music, sports, and entertainment events company). That seems to indicate we're dealing with a company of genuine substance, not just a minor subsidiary. Interestingly, missing is Ruigang Li, the representative of the Chinese shareholder CMC Holdings Limited, though he remains on the board of the parent company.

So, what's going on? With CFG currently engaged as an equal partner in the construction of the largest indoor arena in Europe and a USD 800 investment forthcoming on NYC FC's stadium, the obvious temptation is to ascribe the most likely reason to something relating to infrastructure development. The sum is simply too big to reflect the company wanting to create an opportunity to issue shares in the event of some vague and as-yet-unknown future need.

Another wrinkle is Li alone not being a director but remaining on the board of City Football Group Limited. Does this suggest that the Chinese shareholder is interested in CFG in general as a global business but not especially in whatever Midco will be doing? Or, especially given the dilution of its stake when Silverlake came on board, are we seeing the Chinese investor gradually slip away from the venture?

We simply don't have enough information to make even an educated guess as to what may be happening. It's probably therefore futile to speculate further, but better instead to keep a watching brief on events. For those, like me, who are football business nerds, it promises all to be very interesting and, potentially, extremely exciting.
Click to expand...

This sort of thing generally goes straight over my head so perhaps I'm oversimplifying, but is this not linked to the NYFC new stadium? Is the Chinese board member being missing a political move given the cold war between the USA and China?
 
Centurions said:
This sort of thing generally goes straight over my head so perhaps I'm oversimplifying, but is this not linked to the NYFC new stadium? Is the Chinese board member being missing a political move given the cold war between the USA and China?
Click to expand...
Could be for the huge fine about to be imposed by the PL.
More seriously, the Chinese gov are reported to have discouraged Chinese cos from further investment in European football.
 
petrusha said:
Also on CFG, this is worth noting:



When I read this on Saturday, it was the first mention I'd seen of a new company in the structure - City Football Group (Midco) Limited. I went through its filings with the registrar of companies and what I diuscovered was as follows:
  • it was incorporated in May this year;
  • in July, it registered two charges, an action showing it had become a party to security agreements relating to the financial arrangements of its sole shareholder, the parent company City Football Group Limited; and
  • six directors were appointed on 14 September this year, all of them directors of the parent company, as is John Macbeath, who was already a director upon incorporation.
Stefan says it's now the holding company for MCFC, which would mean there's been some kind of group reorganisation recently beyond simply a new group company being created. And the fact that they've given the company the authority to raise over GBP 817 million of new share capital also suggests that something is going on - especially as we're talking about a level below the group's ultimate holding company.

If anyone wants to dig around some out more, follow the respective links to the publicly available information held at Companies House for City Football Group Limited and City Football Group (Midco) Limited.

One point of interest is that the board of Midco comprises the entire board of the parent company bar one. The big-hitters are there - including Khaldoon, Simon Pearce, Marty Edelman, Egon Durban (co-CEO of Silverlake), and Abdulla Khouri (the events expert from Abu Dhabi, who chairs the company operating the Yas F1 circuit and the Emirate's leading music, sports, and entertainment events company). That seems to indicate we're dealing with a company of genuine substance, not just a minor subsidiary. Interestingly, missing is Ruigang Li, the representative of the Chinese shareholder CMC Holdings Limited, though he remains on the board of the parent company.

So, what's going on? With CFG currently engaged as an equal partner in the construction of the largest indoor arena in Europe and a USD 800 investment forthcoming on NYC FC's stadium, the obvious temptation is to ascribe the most likely reason to something relating to infrastructure development. The sum is simply too big to reflect the company wanting to create an opportunity to issue shares in the event of some vague and as-yet-unknown future need.

Another wrinkle is Li alone not being a director but remaining on the board of City Football Group Limited. Does this suggest that the Chinese shareholder is interested in CFG in general as a global business but not especially in whatever Midco will be doing? Or, especially given the dilution of its stake when Silverlake came on board, are we seeing the Chinese investor gradually slip away from the venture?

We simply don't have enough information to make even an educated guess as to what may be happening. It's probably therefore futile to speculate further, but better instead to keep a watching brief on events. For those, like me, who are football business nerds, it promises all to be very interesting and, potentially, extremely exciting.
Click to expand...


Update from stefan when asked about it this morning:

 
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