The Price of Success: The Increasing Monetisation of Professional Sports

September 23, 2025

Editor(s): Alec Drake

Writer(s): Minh Nguyen, Karen Harvey, Martina Lu

Introduction

Once the epitome of perseverance, individual effort, and strength, rampant commercialisation now threatens professional sports’ social image. Powered by aggressive monetisation, gambling, financial misfeasance and bribery are increasingly emblematic of the widening divide between commercial and viewer interests, diluting quality in favour of profitability. 

Major Capital Inflows

Alleged to have committed Manchester City 115 alleged breaches of the Premier League’s financing rules, it has become a poster child for financial malfeasance in sport. While City denies all accusations, the alleged breaches reportedly span from financial report fraud, non-disclosure of managers’ remuneration, violation of Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) financial regulations, and hindering investigations. With an independent commission currently investigating this series of breaches, outcomes could include unprecedented fines, point deductions, or the imposition of an external governance framework. This is emblematic of tightening regulations throughout the Premier League, aiming to restrict financial excess, and restore the sport’s core values.

Figure 1: Manchester City Champions League Team

Source: Forbes

The issues plaguing the sport are not new, Manchester City has long been criticised for its overt subversion of financial guidelines. Dating back to 2008, when Abu Dhabi United Group’s takeover initiated a fundamental shift in City’s business model. Profoundly dependent on related-party sponsorships, vast funds began being funneled into the club, tied to both broad commercial expansion and pushing on-field success with near limitless capital. The results were immediate, prior to the 2008 takeover Manchester City had only won nine major honours in its 128 year history, pailing in comparison to the 21 won in the subsequent 17 years. Critical in powering this success was a rapidly growing list, rocketing from £54m to £83m during the 2008/09 season with owner Sheik Monsour’s disregard for the club’s fiscal independence.

Whilst Manchester City fans bathe in sustained triumphs, many rivals have raised issues over the uneven competitive landscape. With multiple Abu Dhabi entities cornerstone sponsors of the club, the fair-market values of these deals has been questioned. Specifically, accusations have focused on Etihad Airline’s involvement in ‘top-up’ payments, bypassing UEFA financial regulations by transferring payments from associated companies rather than directly involving the club. Critics argue that this inflates the market, making clubs increasingly dependent on wealthy owners rather than maintaining financial stability, impeding equitable competition against clubs unable to rely on such transfers. 

Thus, with the shift to owner reliance over fundamental stability embodied by Manchester City, clubs are now faced with either securing unsustainable external financing or fading into competitive obscurity. Whilst being tempered by tightening rules, these extravagant sponsorships continue to diminish the fan experience, with widening gaps between the haves and have nots leaving the competitive landscape dominated by a few juggernauts.

Overarching Monetisation of Professional Sport

Whether it be Manchester City’s alleged financial malpractice, FIFA’s World Cup corruption, or underhanded dealings in the transfer market, the footballing world serves as the poster-child for how increasing monetisation erodes governance, ethics, and overall sporting culture. In 2024, US sportsbooks generated a record $13.7 billion in revenue, with commercial gaming hitting $71.9 billion, underscoring the structural vitality of gambling dollars for leagues and broadcasters.

Similarly, the ABC reported that two-thirds of major Australian teams receive gambling money, while in the USA, leagues such as the NFL are quick to capitalise on this exponential influx of cash, naming Caesars, DraftKings, and FanDuel as its first official tri-exclusive gambling sponsors in 2021. The integrity drag is obvious, with baseball’s generational talent Shohei Ohtani seeing his interpreter Ippei Mizuhara sentenced for losing almost $17 million to an elaborate gambling scheme perpetuated by Matthew Bowyer. The illegal bookmaker collected millions from thousands of weekly bettors like Mizuhara, even extending outrageous multi-million-dollar lines of credit to fuel his own lavish lifestyle. Across the country, NBA commissioner Adam Silver issued a lifetime ban to Jontay Porter for leaking inside information, regularly manipulating prop bets and wagering on his own games. Similarly, the AFL charged a former umpire in connection to fraudulent bets on the 2021 and 2022 Brownlow Medal awards, underscoring the gravity of insider wagering in the broader world of sport.

Figure 2: Mathew Bowyer – Illegal Bookmaker

Source: Rolling Stones

Gambling revenue, while significant, pales in comparison to oil-backed middle-eastern capital injection. In 2011, the annual revenue of Premier League champions Manchester City is €267 million. 15 years later, it’s still €23 million less than the total cost of Neymar’s initial contract at Al-Hilal. Mansour’s 2009 takeover of Manchester City lay the controversial foundations for deeper Saudi-Arabian involvement in international football. The Saudi Public Investment Fund, worth an estimated $1 trillion acquired Newcastle in 2021 and a 75% stake in the Saudi Pro League in 2023, providing the financial backing required to attract some of the biggest names in world football unbound by European Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules, numbers that top European clubs struggle to match. Top clubs thus now find themselves in a balancing act between legal loopholes and outright fraud, all while operating under regulatory bodies just as susceptible to corruption, if not more so.

Figure 3: Crown Prince Mohammad, Head of the Saudi Public Investment Fund

Source: Goal

Chelsea’s creative accounting through the sale of two hotels for £76 million in 2023, and a more controversial £200 million sale of their women’s team all to their parent company BlueCo to meet the league’s Profit and Sustainability (PSR) rules, increasingly drawing scrutiny. While the Premier League and its clubs declined to exclude the hotel sales from PSR calculations, essentially enabling this loophole, such transactions are under investigation, bound by UEFA’s stricter FFP regulations. Less creatively across the Atlantic, NBA star Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers allegedly conspired to circumvent the salary cap through a $28 million no-show marketing contract with Aspiration, a now-bankrupt company with investors linked to owner Steve Ballmer. The scandal draws comparisons to Joe Smith’s early-2000s voided contract with the Timberwolves, which cost five first-round picks and a $3.5 million fine.

Internationally, FIFA’s 2015 scandal left a permanent blemish on global sporting business, with a 47-count indictment levelled against 14 officials and marketing executives for racketeering, wire fraud, and money laundering tied to a 24-year corruption scheme. Prosecutors alleged that North, Central, and South American officials solicited and induced bribes from marketing companies for exclusive media and sponsorship rights in major tournaments from World Cup Qualifiers to the Copa América, subverting regular competitive channels to funnel more than $150 million through shell companies. The fallout resulted in FIFA president Sepp Blatter resigning under global pressure, highlighting the governance risks of ballooning media rights, money, and concentrated political power.

Figure 4: Sepp Blatter, Former FIFA President Embroiled in Corruption Investigation

Source: The Independent

The prosperity paradox is evident. Popularity driving monetisation weighs down on sporting ethics, with gambling revenues, political bias, and corruption at the precipice of the beautiful game as regulatory bodies too struggle to keep up, marred by many of the same issues.

Sensationalisation of the Media Landscape

The financial integrity of modern sport has become increasingly contested, with the flow of information around it being no exception. The transfer market, once primarily managed through confidential negotiations between clubs, now unfolds under the glare of social media. Journalists and online influencers can sway fans, change how players are valued and influence the speed of negotiations. At the centre of this ecosystem for professional football is Fabrizio Romano. His catchphrase, “Here we go”, is treated by many as proof that a deal is done and it has grown into a kind of trademark that fans immediately recognise.

Romano’s breakthrough came in 2020 when he confirmed Bruno Fernandes’ move to Manchester United. That moment gave him international visibility, reinforced by exclusives on Lionel Messi’s move to Paris Saint-Germain and Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to Manchester United in 2021. In 2023, his reporting on Jude Bellingham’s €103 million transfer to Real Madrid showed his ability to track every stage of a deal. His word has since come to feel more solid to fans than the official announcements from clubs themselves.

Figure 5: Influential Transfer Market Analyst Fabrizio Romano’s “Here We Go” Podcast

Source: Menin Blazers

Yet this influence has made him more than an observer. Agents feed him stories to raise their clients’ profiles while clubs use him to shape negotiations. His reporting on Dani Olmo in 2024 illustrates this; by revealing a €60 million release clause, he spurred competition that reduced RB Leipzig’s control of the process. More recently, concerns arose over his handling of Jota’s passing. Romano posted over 100 Facebook updates about the death, many aggregating reactions from players and clubs. Critics argue this was less about journalism and more about engagement, drawing revenue from a tragedy and further damaging his reputation.

Accusations of conflict of interest sharpened in 2024 when reports revealed that Romano’s employer, Memmo, had approached Scandinavian clubs with offers to promote transfers for a fee. At the same time, estimates suggested he earns up to $900,000 per month from social media. Critics argue that such financial incentives encourage him to favour engagement over accuracy, fuelling claims of ‘engagement farming,’ where recycled stories and trivial updates blur the boundary between reporting and marketing.

In the 2025 summer window, Romano’s credibility came under more pressure than ever. Tottenham was at the centre of disputes, with reports of inflated bids and misread negotiations that rivals such as David Ornstein of The Athletic handled with more accuracy. Ornstein, for example, correctly identified Arsenal as the frontrunners for Piero Hincapié, while Romano insisted Spurs were ahead. Clubs also began pushing back against his dominance. Porto unveiled a major signing without his involvement, and Sunderland mocked him directly with a pointed announcement: “Fabrizio didn’t tweet about this.” Players, too, challenged him more openly, and critics highlighted signs of “engagement farming,” pointing to repetitive posts that prioritised visibility over substance. Together, these missteps chipped away at the untouchable reputation he had built.

Even so, Romano remains the most visible name in transfers. Most of his reports are correct and in a world where deals often collapse at the last minute, errors are inevitable. The larger concern is how his constant disclosures have reshaped the culture of transfers. What once carried surprise is now revealed step by step, sometimes months in advance. Romano’s career shows how the monetisation of sport is no longer confined to players and clubs, even the news itself has become a commodity. In 2025 he is still the face of transfer reporting, but his role raises questions about whether commercial pressures in sport now shape not only how deals are done, but professional sport’s broader culture.

Conclusion

Money runs through every layer of modern sport, from clubs and players to the media built around it. Manchester City’s 2008 takeover turned the club into a global powerhouse, but also into a lightning rod for criticism, accused of inflating sponsorships and bending fair play rules. Scandals across FIFA, the AFL and the NBA show how gambling and creative accounting chip away at trust in the game. Even transfer news has become part of the business, with Fabrizio Romano turning scoops into a brand worth millions, though recent stumbles remind fans how often hype can overshadow accuracy. These days elite sports are as much about balance sheets and sponsorship deals as goals and trophies. The bigger question is whether the spirit of sport can last when money has taken the whistle.

References