Author
Rob Draper
34 articles
Jun 28, 2025 · finance
Oasis, Glastonbury and football's slide into ticketing hell
Dynamic pricing is a dirty word but it's ready and willing to smear itself all over the people's game
Rob Draper
Jun 13, 2025 · politics
The Club World Cup is here, and with it football's long-awaited new battleground
You can see this tournament in a number of ways, but mainly as FIFA's tanks arriving on UEFA's lawn
Rob Draper
May 30, 2025 · politics · Premium
Sovereign wealth vs private equity: The Champions League final is a microcosm of elite football's modern tussle
One of the most famous state-backed projects takes on a club owned by a US fund - what could be more fitting in 2025?
Rob Draper
May 19, 2025 · Premium
The Super League hasn't gone away, and it's only one battle the new regulator is already facing
David Kogan has so many battles to fight in a war we can't afford him to lose
Rob Draper
May 7, 2025 · legal · Premium
Meet David Kogan, English football's new regulator taking on a role that is still widely misunderstood
Stuck in the middle of the Premier League and EFL is the media rights specialist, who appears at a DCMS hearing today for the first time
Rob Draper
Apr 28, 2025 · finance · Premium
Regulation or free-for-all? Football stands at a fork in the road
Competitive balance, protective cartels and a problem that nobody has solved 20 years later
Rob Draper
Apr 16, 2025 · finance
What stage of PSG's evolution are we at?
They may finally be genuine challengers for the Champions League, but in some respects the Qatar project is facing a fork in the road
Rob Draper
Apr 2, 2025 · finance · Premium
Manchester United's new stadium will be terrific, but what about the football?
Even if the audacious design is likely pared back, the real work is yet to take place
Rob Draper
Mar 19, 2025 · finance
Do a deal or double down? How Newcastle United's cup win may change their thinking
The allure of a trophy win and the promise of tomorrow
Rob Draper
Mar 14, 2025 · finance · Premium
From Vegas to Bournemouth, Bill Foley has the Cherries among the high rollers
The West Point graduate and wine enthusiast has helped the Boscombe club kick on to unimaginable heights
Rob Draper
Mar 7, 2025 · legal
Competition law and carve outs: How does the Premier League untie its Gordian knot?
Either a collective bargaining agreement, carve out or full rules amnesty and reset could be needed to unpick football's legal spiral
Rob Draper
Feb 14, 2025
Inside Man United: Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Dave Brailsford and the Dunning-Kruger effect
They rode into Old Trafford as heroes, but as United's new hierarchy embark on 'Mission 21' there are more questions than answers
Rob Draper
Feb 7, 2025 · data · Premium
Are Liverpool the best-run superclub?
A commitment to data has underpinned a structure and strategy that has maintained success in a way rivals have not been able to
Rob Draper
Jan 29, 2025 · finance · Premium
As other revenue streams flatten, football's arms race on stadiums has begun
State-of-the-art facilities that provide year-round corporate and events revenue are the new edge on elite competition in football
Rob Draper
Jan 24, 2025 · politics · Premium
Parachute payments and oligopoly: is the Premier League becoming a closed shop?
With the three promoted sides looking destined to be relegated for the second successive season, Rob Draper asks if there are structural issues that the league must fix?
Rob Draper
Jan 15, 2025 · finance · Premium
Joan Laporta and FC Barcelona are irreconcilable contradictions
The worst-run megabrand on the planet is also a successful club on the cusp of huge new revenue streams. We try to make sense of it
Rob Draper
Jan 8, 2025 · politics · Premium
Why VAR is doomed. A failed experiment that needs to be scrapped
There are several realities we must accept, and one is that you can’t have common sense refereeing and consistency
Rob Draper
Jan 7, 2025 · finance
FootBiz newsletter #45: Latest on Barcelona mess, identity of Reading buyer revealed
PLUS: Andrea Berta issues the first-ever 'come-and-get-me plea' by a sporting director
Matt Hughes
Dec 18, 2024 · legal · Premium
Whatever happens, the Premier League and Manchester City must find peace in 2025
In a fitting message for the festive season, Rob Draper says the league, and its relationship with its members, needs a reset
Rob Draper
Dec 11, 2024 · data · Premium
The INEOS curse: what evidence is there Sir Jim Ratcliffe can bring success to Manchester United?
From cycling to sailing via Nice and Lausanne, how can we be sure he knows what he's doing?
Rob Draper
Dec 4, 2024 · politics · Premium
By cosying up to power, FIFA knows it can get away with whatever it wants
Once the Trump show is over, we'll face nearly a decade of FIFA ducking and diving important questions on Saudi Arabia's World Cup
Rob Draper
Nov 27, 2024 · data · Premium
How academia helped shape the new school of Portuguese coaches
A country of just 10 million people punches above its weight thanks to a more open mind towards education
Rob Draper
Nov 13, 2024 · politics · Premium
As FIFA continues to dodge accountability, is reform even possible?
And does FIFA even acknowledge the need to reform? Unfortunately we know the answer to that, but Rob Draper has some ideas
Rob Draper
Nov 6, 2024 · finance · Premium
A deep dive into Arsenal's power structure as they search for Edu's replacement
What sort of sporting director Arsenal hire, and who has the biggest say in that hire, will tell us a lot about the club
Rob Draper
