08-05-2025, 11:59 PM
i personally think his answer around whether he was in it for the money is (slightly) disingenuous.
we all talk about the JA model of identify under-the-radar players with high chance of success, fail quickly with duds by passing them on asap do all this whilst build squad value over time and hopefully win along the way... these are the means and not the ends.
...the ends here is to attain a shadow multi-club-ownership-like model that just keeps endless gettings returns a massive yield on £££ transfers between clubs (without all the other baggage and risk of owning the clubs). fifa/uefa have been trying to wrestle with multi-club ownership; simultaneously loving the moneybags they come with but having a hard time managing the optics of conflicting interests (e.g. palace/lyon fiasco).
i think bloom primarily is working to get himself soft power across world football by having minority ownership of clubs (strategic influence) and having JA deeply embedded in their football operations. from there, jamestown operates as a major player in most/all major leagues long into the future, and they get their rewards primarily from player sales/bonuses.
in short they operate by getting value between clubs, not owning them. all the revenue scale of multi-club ownership without the headaches.
"but he said all revenues from player sales go to the club" - right, but by technical definition this is probably true. i'm guessing that JA will get some financial benefit from player sales through other contractual means (bonuses, service fees, royalties?). these types of outgoings won't be counted as player trading revenues. so count that as maybe another disingenuous statement.
this all said, there's almost no downside for hearts here. i think as long as we don't become too dependent on jamestown for strategy over the long term and we are transparent about finances with jamestown re:transfers and their other services then this should all be fine.
we all talk about the JA model of identify under-the-radar players with high chance of success, fail quickly with duds by passing them on asap do all this whilst build squad value over time and hopefully win along the way... these are the means and not the ends.
...the ends here is to attain a shadow multi-club-ownership-like model that just keeps endless gettings returns a massive yield on £££ transfers between clubs (without all the other baggage and risk of owning the clubs). fifa/uefa have been trying to wrestle with multi-club ownership; simultaneously loving the moneybags they come with but having a hard time managing the optics of conflicting interests (e.g. palace/lyon fiasco).
i think bloom primarily is working to get himself soft power across world football by having minority ownership of clubs (strategic influence) and having JA deeply embedded in their football operations. from there, jamestown operates as a major player in most/all major leagues long into the future, and they get their rewards primarily from player sales/bonuses.
in short they operate by getting value between clubs, not owning them. all the revenue scale of multi-club ownership without the headaches.
"but he said all revenues from player sales go to the club" - right, but by technical definition this is probably true. i'm guessing that JA will get some financial benefit from player sales through other contractual means (bonuses, service fees, royalties?). these types of outgoings won't be counted as player trading revenues. so count that as maybe another disingenuous statement.
this all said, there's almost no downside for hearts here. i think as long as we don't become too dependent on jamestown for strategy over the long term and we are transparent about finances with jamestown re:transfers and their other services then this should all be fine.