Fans blocked the sale of their club

The global conglomerate City Football Group, managing assets worth roughly four billion euros, attempted to buy the Dutch club NAC Breda. However, Breda supporters strongly opposed the transaction.

The group already owns a dozen football clubs worldwide, and last year, four of their affiliated teams celebrated league titles. City Football Group (CFG), backed by billionaire Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi, is linked to new potential acquisitions nearly every quarter, as it looks to expand its already rich portfolio. The most influential holding in modern professional football, CFG manages assets estimated at around four billion euros, with its flagship club being the English giant Manchester City. The Arab owners have set their sights on global football dominance, which is reflected in the long-term strategy of the entire group. The aim is to acquire clubs that are not only successful but also promote an attractive and attacking style of play.

Another club that caught the attention of CFG is the traditional Dutch team NAC Breda. The club, which won its only Eredivisie title 101 years ago, also has a domestic cup victory from the 1972/1973 season. Currently, however, Breda plays only in the second tier of Dutch football, and the squad is valued at €6.8 million.

On the other hand, clubs like Breda often appear to be ideal acquisition targets for the influential managers at City Football Group. Cooperation between Breda and CFG actually dates back to 2016 and has included player loans as well as knowledge-sharing from CFG. After six years, the City Football Group's top management decided to take the partnership to the next level by attempting to acquire the club for a price of seven million euros. A mere formality? Not at all. Even the CFG executives likely did not expect the serious complications that followed. Small local shareholders—mostly fans represented through the NOAD Foundation—vetoed the planned deal, blocking the official takeover of Breda by the super-wealthy holding, at least for now. In fact, in the near future, the club’s shares may be transferred to local investors from the region, organized under a group aptly named NAC Breda.

According to sports analyst Jozef Tokos, the key issue is what fans actually expect from new owners, and what kind of foundation they believe the club should be built on. There could be multiple reasons. “It depends on what’s driving the opposition to City Football Group’s entry. In recent years, there’s been a growing tendency for fans to want to be more formally involved in the club,” Tokos told Economic Daily.

Still, Tokos says the commercial trend among big players is clear, regardless of Breda’s fate. “Large holdings will continue to seek to expand their portfolios with smaller satellite clubs. The goal is to create greater synergy across the entire group. So we should expect more of these kinds of deals in the future,” the expert concluded. (...)