Does anyone know the value of any professional soccer clubs in Central America? If there were any clubs sold recently, do you know how much was paid for them?
Ok, let's look at Costa Rica. How much do you think it would cost to buy Alajuelense or Saprissa? I think Liberia has a new owner with deep pockets, do you know how much was paid for them? And Puntarenas seemed like a very small town when i was there, how much do you think that club is worth?
I suspect those two teams (Saprissa and Alajuelense) would be in the high tens of millions USD. Though this is completely guess work, since I am not sure these teams have realeased for-sale numbers anytime soon. Remember though, the operating costs for these type of organizations are huge, and your profits are not guaranteed (at least not the bonus profits, say if you win a League Cup or an International one). Truly a gamble.
Mario Sotela was reported to have paid US$250000 for control of Municipal Liberia when they were without assets,so to speak.I'm sure his expenses only began there.
It can be cheap to buy a CA club which could vary from 50,000 to maybe 15 million. But the you have to pay League Fees,player salary, Stadium rental if not owned, security,ect
Saprissa id say its probably worth between 5 million to 15 million, Vergara bought it for 4 million I heard. Communicaciones or Municipal at least a good 10 million Olimpia ehh maybe around 10 million also You really cant get a lot of money out of Central American clubs, your in a 3rd world country and the region lacks any footballing power like uefa or conmebol.
well when you have pocketeers just pocketing the money instead of distributing it among the the organization, then you'll be in someone of a hole like this.
I'm positive Vergara paid ~5 million for Saprissa back in 03, but the team was at its lowest at that point, with Alajuelense dominating the Costarican league for several years prior and even constantly starring in the concacaf champions cup, they were one goal away from being in the 1st club world cup, when they lost the concacaf champions cup final 99 against necaxa. Then they won the 2004 champions cup against Saprissa, but there was no Club World Cup that year. Vergara even joked that Saprissa was worth the same as an average keeper in the mexican league when he bought it. Saprissa was probably worth its highest in 2005 when it had players like Cristian Bolaños, Randall Azofeifa, Ronald Gomez, Puppy Lopez, and Alvaro Saborio in their squad. Cristian Bolaños became a star for Norway's Start, Azofeifa became a star for Belgium's Gent, Ronald Gomez retired after a really good career, Lopez went to play for Melbourne Victory and was considered a good player, but recently came back to Saprissa. Which is good for Saprissa. and Saborio went to play for Switzerland's Sion where he had a very good first season but didn't so well last season so he's looking for a club right now, he has excelled with the national team lately though. Btw that 2005 Saprissa squad won the Concacaf Champions Cup and went on to obtain a 3rd place in the Club World Cup.
Atletico Balboa's (a small club from El Salvador) president has just today stated that if the club was to be sold, they would ask for no less than US$150,000. The club is currently in the first division after gaining promotion mid last year. They are by no means a "top" club and have spent most of their existence in the second/third divisions; they only gained promotion to the first division for the first time in 2000 (they've been around since 1950). Last season they finished third last on the aggregate table (one point in front of second last and six in front of last) and are currently in last spot this season after only having won one game from eleven matches. They are also struggling to pay their players and are in the red. They don't own their stadium and have only won one major trophy (not counting winning the second division) that being Copa Presidente in 2005, a cup competition which is now defunct. Another high point would be making the first division final back in late 2005 (a match they eventually lost on penalties).