John Textor will be celebrating two years of ownership of Lyon this month and it does feel like he has got OL back on track. He also owns Crystal Palace, Molenbeek and Botafogo, the last of whom have been wildly successful. With the Rio club winning both Serie A (first time in 29 years) and a first ever Copa Libertadores this season. Don't say that you weren't warned as in June 2022 I wrote .........
Botafogo were relegated for the third time in their history in 2020 , but bounced straight back up and are too big a club not to survive but compete for a Copa Libertadores place regularly. John Textor, who is a co-owner of Crystal Palace bought 90% of the club in January, Red Bull aside, he is the first foreign owner in Brazilian football and this is a big deal for Botafogo, who have lurched from one financial crisis to another and been heavily in debt, but a change in government law made this debt serviceable over the long term and millions of supporters made the club a viable business model. Botafogo and Cruzeiro ( they are on the way back big time, Ronaldo has bought a controlling stake in his boyhood club) are now companies and new legal structures, not non profit making organisations and this is an important development and the two clubs are at the vanguard of a changing football world in Brazil.
After his purchase Textor said: “If you look at the revenues of a football club in Brazil, this debt would scare you. But the impact that the club can generate is much bigger. We can engage our fans, our audience, in a very profitable way. Look at Manchester United, for example, who have a very loyal fan base on a global scale, but fail to reach their full potential in terms of their business model.”
“A club like Botafogo, with millions of fans, gives many opportunities. Where there is that kind of passion, there is room for growth. And there is no debt too high for a global business model. It’s a huge debt for a club here, but the government made a law, which has made it possible to pay off that amount.”
Botafogo lost their opening game 3-1 to league leaders Corinthians , but were unbeaten in eight starts ( 5 wins) after that, including some really eye-catching results, before a 1-0 loss last time out at Coritiba and we can expect a reaction to that, especially as they have had nine days in between, which is like three weeks in any other league and their longest break in three months. A win would take them 4th and that would be a great start to life back in the top flight, it is hard to know what ambitions are for this season, but you suspect way beyond the usual survival target. A new head coach came in, with experienced Luis Castro taking charge and some 13m € was spent on transfers immediately after , which was almost all the funds the club, as opposed to the company, got after the takeover and is substantial in Serie A terms. The other three promoted clubs spent about half a million between them and the total spent by Botafogo is about the same as the full squad value of Goiás . Castro teams dominate possession and his side had 72% of the ball in that most recent loss, his sides pass the ball quickly , many of you will have noticed that with his Shakhtar Donetsk teams. He likes to develop youth too and despite the quick fix in this last window, a club with a lot of youthful talent, will also see further and big investment in the academy. Textor has already brought in new sponsors and has invested heavily in the data and analytics department. This is a very interesting project and we can also talk about Cruzeiro, where similar things are happening and with an immediate upturn, when the opportunity arises.
I doubt even Textor dreamed about that level of success, that quickly for Botafogo and he has to be encouraged by that , which can only be a boost for OL. They were the biggest spenders in Europe last January with many clubs opting to keep a tight hold on purse strings and in the summer had a net -125m€ spend and they could be active again this January, as they look good for last 16 in the Europa League and are just a point off top 4 (Champions League) and they averaged a massive 2.3 points per game from this stage onwards (W15) last season, which was more than PSG and title winning level.
Good luck!
