V Sports is a holding company that administers association football clubs. The company is jointly owned by American billionaire Wes Edens and Egyptian billionaire Nassef Sawiris, with a minority stake held by American investment firm Atairos.[3] The company derives its name from Aston Villa, the flagship football club, and acts as the club's parent company.
| Company type | Holding company |
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| Industry |
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| Founded | 2018 as NSWE[1] |
| Founder | |
Key people |
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| Owner |
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| Subsidiaries |
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In addition to the men's and women's sides of Aston Villa, V Sports also owns a 29% stake in Portuguese side Vitória S.C. V Sports also has partnership agreements with ZED FC of the Egyptian Premier League, Vissel Kobe of the J1 League, and Real Unión of the Primera Federación. The clubs in the V Sports network share scouting resources, coaching methodologies, and youth development strategies.[4]
History
The company was founded as NSWE in July 2018 ahead of Edens and Sawiris' purchase of a 55% stake in EFL Championship club Aston Villa. This was subsequently increased to a full purchase of the club in August 2019, following Aston Villa's promotion to the Premier League.[5] NSWE was rebranded to V Sports in 2021.[1]
Having confirmed an initial partnership between ZED FC and Aston Villa to develop youth players in December 2021, a partnership agreement between ZED and V Sports (including Vitória SC) was announced in April 2023. [6] ZED FC are owned by Naguib Sawiris, the brother of Nassef Sawiris. Aston Villa announced the pre-signing of ZED FC youth player and Egyptian Under-17 international, Omar Khedr, in August 2023.[7]
A youth academy investment in Senegal was announced in late 2022.[8] Vitória president António Miguel Cardoso described this as : "the largest training complex in Senegal is owned by V Sports. We are talking about young athletes, up to the age of 18, who are in Senegal being worked on so that they can then follow their professional project."[9]
V Sports purchased 46% of Vitória S.C. in February 2023, with the acquisition advised by Slaughter & May.[10][4] Nassef Sawiris noted that discussions had been ongoing for almost two years between V Sports and Vitória.[4] However, V Sports was required by UEFA to reduce its share in Vitória from 46% to 29% to comply with regulations in June 2023, as both clubs were in the qualifying rounds of the 2023-24 UEFA Europa Conference League.[11] The requirement also necessitated that no players were transferred or loaned between the clubs until September 2024 at the earliest.[12]
V Sports had entered formal discussions with Major League Soccer (MLS) regarding forming a club in Las Vegas in early 2022, with the name Las Vegas Villains trademarked.[13] The 30th team in the league was instead awarded to San Diego in May 2023.[14]
In May 2023, Chris Heck, former president of the Philadelphia 76ers, was announced as the President of Business Operations for both V Sports and Aston Villa.[15] In October 2023, former director of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, Matthew Kidson joined as Director of Global Development.[16]
On 19 October 2023, V Sports announced a partnership between its member clubs and Japanese club Vissel Kobe.[17][18] On 28 November 2023, V Sports announced a partnership with Spanish club Real Unión: the club is owned by the family of Aston Villa manager Unai Emery.[19]
On 15 December 2023, V Sports announced an agreement with Comcast-backed American investment firm Atairos to become a minority in the V Sports holding company.[20] The agreement, which valued V Sports at more than £500 million, saw Atairos obtain a 20% stake.[21] The deal with Atairos was finalised on 12 April 2024.[22]
V Sports affiliated teams
- Aston Villa F.C. & Aston Villa W.F.C. - V Sports have full ownership of the club, with Sawiris and Edens acting as club chairmen. Considered the flagship brand.
- Vitória S.C - V Sports originally owned a controlling stake, but in order to comply with UEFA rules, now only owns 29% with no representation on the board of directors.[12]
- ZED FC - Collaboration agreement to develop younger talents, in partnership with ZED's academy in Senegal. Aston Villa provide assistance in the technical and physical development of academy players, offer training to coaches and give access to their scouting network. Additionally, ZED can send young players to train with Aston Villa's youth academy and get experience of European football at a young age. In exchange, other V Sports clubs have access to sign those players ahead of other teams, which was evident with the transfer of Omar Khedr to Aston Villa, which was announced in August 2023, but will become official in July 2024.[23]
- Vissel Kobe - Bilateral collaboration agreement where the two clubs create a development framework for players and coaching staff, with an encouragement to share ideas and coaching techniques, in order to increase the development of youth players at both teams' academies. Players from Vissel's Under-18 squad, such as Kaito Yamada and Kento Hamasaki have been sent to train at Aston Villa's Bodymoor Heath Training Ground.[23]
- Real Unión - Collaboration in which V Sports have offered to help develop technical coaching methodology in order to improve Real Unión's standing in the Spanish league system. Unión appointed then-Aston Villa U21 manager Iñigo Idiakez as head coach shortly after the relationship was announced and Aston Villa U21 players Tommi O'Reilly and Josh Feeney joined the club on loan, with the thought being that the experience would allow the young players to develop a more rounded play style by taking them out of their comfort zone.[23]