Mercury13
- FC Badalona Women to play home games in renovated Estadi Municipal de Badalona next season
- Nike and Fever come on board as club sponsors
- Former Fifa and Marseille executive Pedro Iriondo appointed as CEO
Mercury13 is buying a majority stake in FC Badalona Women, taking its multi-club ownership network to the Spanish market.
As part of the investment, the investment group has committed to staying in Badalona, with the city’s Estadi Municipal de Badalona to host the team’s home games from next season onwards. FC Badalona Women, who are in eighth place in Liga F, currently host matches in the nearby city of Palamós, as their hometown venue does not currently meet the stadium requirements set by the Spanish top-flight.
Mercury13 will be supported by Nike and Fever, with both companies to sponsor FC Badalona Women. Experiences platform Fever will become the team’s front-of-shirt sponsor and will work with the outfit on finding new fans both locally and internationally.
Josep Bellet, a member of Liga F’s executive committee is to remain as the club’s president. He will be joined by Pedro Iriondo, with the former Fifa and Olympique de Marseille executive to become FC Badalona Women’s chief executive. Meanwhile, Lauren Holiday, a two-time Olympic gold medalist with the US Women’s National Team who chairs Mercury13, will join the team’s board.
“Mercury13 brings dedicated focus, international experience and a clear strategic vision for women’s football,” said Iriondo. “Our priority now is to build strong professional structures around the club – operationally and culturally – while shaping a clear identity for FC Badalona Women that reflects the spirit of the city and its community.
“From there, our goal is to develop a competitive team that grows with Badalona and competes at the highest level.”
This is the first acquisition Mercury13 has made since its co-founder Victoire Cogevina Reynal left last month. The Liga F side is the third club in the company’s portfolio, with the group additionally owning controlling stakes in Como Women and Bristol City Women.
The group has a lengthy investor roster, which includes Spanish World Cup winner Juan Mata, former Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini, former Chelsea forward Eniola Aluko, and Marc Lasry’s Avenue Sports Group. Mercury13 has previously set out its ambition of investing US$100 million in controlling stakes in women’s soccer teams across Europe and Latin America. It aims to deliver long term capital, operational expertise and commercial scale to each club.
“Spanish women’s football has experienced extraordinary growth in recent years and continues to set new competitive standards,” added Holiday. “Badalona is a city with a proud sporting culture and sits in the heart of one of the world’s most exciting football environments.
“FC Badalona Women is at an exciting stage in its journey, and Mercury13 is committed to supporting the club as it builds its next chapter.”
SportsPro says…
Mercury13 has long held an ambition of owning a portfolio that included a team in each of Europe’s top five leagues. It now takes another step towards this goal by expanding into Spain, becoming the first multi-club ownership network to move into the market.
It is one of several groups to deploy a multi-club ownership model, in the belief that a global network of teams will help to lift to elevate the sport. The structure is becoming increasingly popular in women’s soccer, with the likes of US billionaire Michele Kang establishing her own portfolio that includes London City Lionesses, OL Lyonnes and the Washington Spirit, while Crux Football, the majority owner of French outfit Montpellier, also has ambitions of expanding its footprint to different markets.
With the deal closed, the real work now starts to transform FC Badalona Women into a formidable outfit on and off the pitch, that can eventually challenge the dominance of Barcelona, who have long dominated Spanish women’s soccer.
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