Football club M&A deal volume is accelerating in 2026. 68 completed football club investment transactions worldwide YTD.

From the publicly verified deals Blackbridge has tracked so far, there have been 68 completed football club investment transactions worldwide this year, with the majority in Europe.

The top five markets by deal volume are:
England: 24 transactions
Italy: 12 transactions
United States: 4 transactions
Portugal: 4 transactions
Spain: 4 transactions

The five largest transactions by deal size:
Club Atlético de Madrid
Sporting Kansas City
Al-Hilal Saudi Club
Venezia FC
FC Lorient

England remains the clear volume leader. However, the largest deals in the market have been outside England.

That said, England’s market remains deeper, more active and more international than anywhere else, with transactions across Tiers 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9.

Italy has also been surprisingly active. Many of the deals appear to be more local, complex or semi-distressed, but activity has been spread across Tiers 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

Spain and Portugal are both interesting markets, but they remain well behind England and Italy on deal volume so far this year.

Spain, however, has produced the largest transaction of the year so far through Apollo’s investment in Atlético Madrid. It has also attracted major profile through Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi both investing in football clubs.

For investors looking seriously at football club ownership in 2026, Blackbridge helps save time by filtering the market, identifying high-quality deal flow and assessing the right opportunities before capital is wasted on poor-fit clubs.