Toulouse is now conjoined to American time. At least in football. The pink city club, the Toulouse Football Club (TFC) joined those of Bordeaux, Marseille and Le Havre in the list of French football teams bought by investors from across the Atlantic.
The sale of the Toulouse club to the RedBird Capital Partners investment fund was formalized on Monday, July 20. This sale, the project of which was unveiled in May by Olivier Sadran, the owner and president of the club, concerns 85% of the capital – Olivier Sadran retaining 15%.
It comes as “Téfécé”, the last in Ligue 1, was relegated to Ligue 2 after a 2019-2020 season interrupted by the epidemic due to the coronavirus, a decision that the club challenged, without success.
The amount of the transaction was not communicated but the daily The team recently mentioned the figure of 20 million euros.
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Who are RedBird and its founder Gerry Cardinale?
“ I am convinced that RedBird Capital Partners has the skills and resources to allow TFC to return to the elite of French football “, Assured, in May, Olivier Sadran. Resources, no doubt. Skills, is it so sure?
RedBird Capital Partners usually brews millions of dollars. This fund has contributed to more than $ 7 billion of investments in North America, in fields such as energy, communications, television, hospitality and cinema.
The company was created in 2014 by Gerry Cardinale, who previously worked for the American investment bank Goldman Sachs for twenty years. He managed investments of more than 100 billion dollars, especially in real estate.
Whether it is through his activity at Goldman Sachs or through those of RedBird, Gerry Cardinale (52) has certainly also gained a foothold in the sports world for a little while. But it did so primarily in North America. And not at all as a club leader.
In 2002, he had pushed the Steinbrenner family, owners of the New York Yankees baseball franchise, to create their television channel, YES. The latter notably holds the exclusive television rights to the Yankees, or the Brooklyn Nets in basketball (NBA) or New York City FC in football (soccer version).
In 2008, in partnership with the Yankees and the Dallas Cowboys football franchise, he also founded Legends Hospitality, a company managing ticketing, catering services and merchandising in several sports venues in New York, Dallas and soon Los Angeles.
Regarding RedBird Capital Partners, the only foray into sport, to date, limited to the launch of the company One Team Partners, which supports athletes (American football, baseball and football / soccer) in the management of their image, in partnership with the league players’ unions.
Why be interested in a club that goes down to Ligue 2?
Cardinale and RedBird had expressed their interest in football (soccer) and France in 2018, initiating discussions with the Red Star. Without suites. In recent years, they have studied the profiles of 70 European clubs in the space of three years.
“We are proud and happy to contribute to writing a new chapter in the history of the club and thus realize its very great potential., wrote Gerry Cardinale, quoted in a press release. We are determined to give the club a solid and lasting foundation that will lead it to success, by improving its sports performance on the field and its management as well as further developing its contribution to the dynamism of the territory. “
“The club has great potential and I look forward to working with the players, our staff and RedBird to achieve our ambition”, underlined Damien Comolli, who becomes the new president.
With the “Téfécé”, the American company however gets its hands on a club in turmoil, which has alternated seasons without flavor and often maintains miraculous for ten years. Until a disastrous 2019-2020 season: only three wins in 28 games, as many coaches consumed, and ultimately a descent in Ligue 2 after seventeen years in the elite.
The increase in the amount of television broadcasting rights (64 million euros per season over the period 2020-2024, compared to 22 million euros per year until then), as well as the prospect of accessing young players trained in France and which, if they shine on the ground, can be resold for substantial sums, can also be taken into account in the equation.
What will the American version TFC look like?
The ambition of the new owners is displayed: that the TFC immediately return to Ligue 1. This is what the new coach, Patrice Garande, appointed at the end of June, told the players in early July, when training resumed.
As president, it will be up to Damien Comolli to reshape the club. This native of Béziers (47 years old) knows European football well. After having worked with Arsène Wenger in Monaco, Nagoya (Japan), then Arsenal, he was the sports director of Saint-Etienne in 2004. Before returning to England, to Tottenham (director of football for three years).
Returning to Saint-Etienne in 2008, he returned to Liverpool at the end of 2010 as director of football strategy with the new owner of the Reds, American businessman John Henry. Party in the summer of 2018 in Turkey, in Fenerbahçe, he had resigned in January 2020, against a backdrop of tensions with the supporters and the management of the club.
If these various round trips were sometimes marked by difficult seasons in terms of results, Damien Comolli has carved out a reputation as a specialist in data and statistics relating to players and the game, building up an important network, especially with agents. .
Present in Toulouse since May, he has already started to make his mark. To date, around ten players have left the TFC. The recruitment unit has been overhauled. And Patrice Garande was appointed coach at the end of June. The latter, when he coached Caen (2012-2018) had brought the Norman club from Ligue 2 to Ligue 1 in 2014. He also took on as an assistant, as in Caen, Jean-Marie Huriez.
