Rob Draper

Finance

Oasis, Glastonbury and football's slide into ticketing hell

Jun 28, 2025

•

10 min read

Oasis, Glastonbury and football's slide into ticketing hell

Dynamic pricing is a dirty word but it's ready and willing to smear itself all over the people's game

Rob Draper

Politics

The Club World Cup is here, and with it football's long-awaited new battleground

Jun 13, 2025

•

11 min read

The Club World Cup is here, and with it football's long-awaited new battleground

You can see this tournament in a number of ways, but mainly as FIFA's tanks arriving on UEFA's lawn

Rob Draper

Politics

Sovereign wealth vs private equity: The Champions League final is a microcosm of elite football's modern tussle

May 30, 2025

•

9 min read

Sovereign wealth vs private equity: The Champions League final is a microcosm of elite football's modern tussle

One of the most famous state-backed projects takes on a club owned by a US fund - what could be more fitting in 2025?

Rob Draper

The Super League hasn't gone away, and it's only one battle the new regulator is already facing

May 19, 2025

•

8 min read

The Super League hasn't gone away, and it's only one battle the new regulator is already facing

David Kogan has so many battles to fight in a war we can't afford him to lose

Rob Draper

Legal

Meet David Kogan, English football's new regulator taking on a role that is still widely misunderstood

May 7, 2025

•

10 min read

Meet David Kogan, English football's new regulator taking on a role that is still widely misunderstood

Stuck in the middle of the Premier League and EFL is the media rights specialist, who appears at a DCMS hearing today for the first time

Rob Draper

Finance

Regulation or free-for-all? Football stands at a fork in the road

Apr 28, 2025

•

11 min read

Regulation or free-for-all? Football stands at a fork in the road

Competitive balance, protective cartels and a problem that nobody has solved 20 years later

Rob Draper

Finance

What stage of PSG's evolution are we at?

Apr 16, 2025

•

11 min read

What stage of PSG's evolution are we at?

They may finally be genuine challengers for the Champions League, but in some respects the Qatar project is facing a fork in the road

Rob Draper

Finance

Manchester United's new stadium will be terrific, but what about the football?

Apr 2, 2025

•

9 min read

Manchester United's new stadium will be terrific, but what about the football?

Even if the audacious design is likely pared back, the real work is yet to take place

Rob Draper

Finance

Do a deal or double down? How Newcastle United's cup win may change their thinking

Mar 19, 2025

•

8 min read

Do a deal or double down? How Newcastle United's cup win may change their thinking

The allure of a trophy win and the promise of tomorrow

Rob Draper

Finance

From Vegas to Bournemouth, Bill Foley has the Cherries among the high rollers

Mar 14, 2025

•

8 min read

From Vegas to Bournemouth, Bill Foley has the Cherries among the high rollers

The West Point graduate and wine enthusiast has helped the Boscombe club kick on to unimaginable heights

Rob Draper

Legal

Competition law and carve outs: How does the Premier League untie its Gordian knot?

Mar 7, 2025

•

7 min read

Competition law and carve outs: How does the Premier League untie its Gordian knot?

Either a collective bargaining agreement, carve out or full rules amnesty and reset could be needed to unpick football's legal spiral

Rob Draper

Inside Man United: Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Dave Brailsford and the Dunning-Kruger effect

Feb 14, 2025

•

9 min read

Inside Man United: Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Dave Brailsford and the Dunning-Kruger effect

They rode into Old Trafford as heroes, but as United's new hierarchy embark on 'Mission 21' there are more questions than answers

Rob Draper

Data

Feb 7, 2025

•

9 min read

Are Liverpool the best-run superclub?

A commitment to data has underpinned a structure and strategy that has maintained success in a way rivals have not been able to

Rob Draper

Finance

As other revenue streams flatten, football's arms race on stadiums has begun

Jan 29, 2025

•

10 min read

As other revenue streams flatten, football's arms race on stadiums has begun

State-of-the-art facilities that provide year-round corporate and events revenue are the new edge on elite competition in football

Rob Draper

Politics

Parachute payments and oligopoly: is the Premier League becoming a closed shop?

Jan 24, 2025

•

11 min read

Parachute payments and oligopoly: is the Premier League becoming a closed shop?

With the three promoted sides looking destined to be relegated for the second successive season, Rob Draper asks if there are structural issues that the league must fix?

Rob Draper

Finance

Joan Laporta and FC Barcelona are irreconcilable contradictions

Jan 15, 2025

•

8 min read

Joan Laporta and FC Barcelona are irreconcilable contradictions

The worst-run megabrand on the planet is also a successful club on the cusp of huge new revenue streams. We try to make sense of it

Rob Draper

Politics

Why VAR is doomed. A failed experiment that needs to be scrapped

Jan 8, 2025

•

11 min read

Why VAR is doomed. A failed experiment that needs to be scrapped

There are several realities we must accept, and one is that you can’t have common sense refereeing and consistency

Rob Draper

Finance

Jan 7, 2025

•

15 min read

FootBiz newsletter #45: Latest on Barcelona mess, identity of Reading buyer revealed

PLUS: Andrea Berta issues the first-ever 'come-and-get-me plea' by a sporting director

Ed Malyon, +2

Legal

Whatever happens, the Premier League and Manchester City must find peace in 2025

Dec 18, 2024

•

7 min read

Whatever happens, the Premier League and Manchester City must find peace in 2025

In a fitting message for the festive season, Rob Draper says the league, and its relationship with its members, needs a reset

Rob Draper

Data

The INEOS curse: what evidence is there Sir Jim Ratcliffe can bring success to Manchester United?

Dec 11, 2024

•

7 min read

The INEOS curse: what evidence is there Sir Jim Ratcliffe can bring success to Manchester United?

From cycling to sailing via Nice and Lausanne, how can we be sure he knows what he's doing?

Rob Draper

Politics

By cosying up to power, FIFA knows it can get away with whatever it wants

Dec 4, 2024

•

8 min read

By cosying up to power, FIFA knows it can get away with whatever it wants

Once the Trump show is over, we'll face nearly a decade of FIFA ducking and diving important questions on Saudi Arabia's World Cup

Rob Draper

Data

How academia helped shape the new school of Portuguese coaches

Nov 27, 2024

•

10 min read

How academia helped shape the new school of Portuguese coaches

A country of just 10 million people punches above its weight thanks to a more open mind towards education

Rob Draper

Politics

As FIFA continues to dodge accountability, is reform even possible?

Nov 13, 2024

•

7 min read

As FIFA continues to dodge accountability, is reform even possible?

And does FIFA even acknowledge the need to reform? Unfortunately we know the answer to that, but Rob Draper has some ideas

Rob Draper

Finance

A deep dive into Arsenal's power structure as they search for Edu's replacement

Nov 6, 2024

•

8 min read

A deep dive into Arsenal's power structure as they search for Edu's replacement

What sort of sporting director Arsenal hire, and who has the biggest say in that hire, will tell us a lot about the club

Rob Draper

Data

In hiring Ruben Amorim, Manchester United must finally break free from their cultish culture and lean on structure

Oct 30, 2024

•

3 min read

In hiring Ruben Amorim, Manchester United must finally break free from their cultish culture and lean on structure

A club that has only had success under three dominant figureheads needs to modernise and delegate in a way it has not been able to before

Rob Draper

Rob Draper

Oasis, Glastonbury and football's slide into ticketing hell

The Club World Cup is here, and with it football's long-awaited new battleground

Sovereign wealth vs private equity: The Champions League final is a microcosm of elite football's modern tussle

The Super League hasn't gone away, and it's only one battle the new regulator is already facing

Meet David Kogan, English football's new regulator taking on a role that is still widely misunderstood

Regulation or free-for-all? Football stands at a fork in the road

What stage of PSG's evolution are we at?

Manchester United's new stadium will be terrific, but what about the football?

Do a deal or double down? How Newcastle United's cup win may change their thinking

From Vegas to Bournemouth, Bill Foley has the Cherries among the high rollers

Competition law and carve outs: How does the Premier League untie its Gordian knot?

Inside Man United: Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Dave Brailsford and the Dunning-Kruger effect

Are Liverpool the best-run superclub?

As other revenue streams flatten, football's arms race on stadiums has begun

Parachute payments and oligopoly: is the Premier League becoming a closed shop?

Joan Laporta and FC Barcelona are irreconcilable contradictions

Why VAR is doomed. A failed experiment that needs to be scrapped

FootBiz newsletter #45: Latest on Barcelona mess, identity of Reading buyer revealed

Whatever happens, the Premier League and Manchester City must find peace in 2025

The INEOS curse: what evidence is there Sir Jim Ratcliffe can bring success to Manchester United?

By cosying up to power, FIFA knows it can get away with whatever it wants

How academia helped shape the new school of Portuguese coaches

As FIFA continues to dodge accountability, is reform even possible?

A deep dive into Arsenal's power structure as they search for Edu's replacement

In hiring Ruben Amorim, Manchester United must finally break free from their cultish culture and lean on structure

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