Developing & Applying a Valuation Framework for Non-Listed Professional Football Clubs - The case of Belgian professional football

Details

Supervisors

Colmant, Quentin

Faculty

Louvain School of Management

Degree label

Master [120] en sciences de gestion, à finalité spécialisée

Abstract

This master’s thesis examines the valuation of professional football clubs through the case of the Belgian football market. The objective of this research is to assess whether traditional valuation methods are sufficient to capture the economic value of football clubs, and how football-specific models can complement them. The analysis focuses on five Belgian clubs: RSC Anderlecht, Club Brugge, Union Saint-Gilloise, KRC Genk and Royal Antwerp. A multi-model valuation framework is applied, combining Net Asset Value, Discounted Cash Flow, revenue multiples and Markham and Maguire’s multivariate model. The results are compared on an equity value basis in order to ensure consistency across methods. The findings show that no single method is sufficient to capture the value of a football club. Traditional methods provide useful insights into balance-sheet strength, intrinsic value and commercial scale, while football-specific models better reflect wage discipline, stadium utilisation, profitability and player trading. Club Brugge displays the strongest valuation profile, Anderlecht appears as a recovery case, Genk shows a balanced profile, Union Saint-Gilloise highlights the difficulty of converting sporting success into intrinsic value, and Antwerp remains financially fragile. Overall, the thesis shows that football club valuation should be understood as a diagnostic exercise rather than a single-point estimate. A multi-model framework provides more meaningful insights for investors and executives by identifying the main sources of value creation and financial risk.