(Bloomberg) -- Juventus Football Club S.p.A. shares jumped the most in a year after the Italian soccer club joined a group of the game’s wealthiest teams in announcing plans for a new “super league” that could transform revenue streams at the top level of the sport.
Juventus stock rose as much as 10% to 85 euro cents in early Milan trading, with Juve Chairman Andrea Agnelli set to be a vice chair of the breakaway group. Other members include Manchester United Plc, whose shares rose 3.9% in early U.S. premarket trading on thin volume.
Establishing a new elite tournament in Europe would effectively end the UEFA Champions League’s decades-long reign as the world’s premier club contest, and revolutionize the sport’s structure. Under the plan, 15 founding teams would share an upfront payment of 3.5 billion euros ($4.2 billion).
“The financial incentive for the clubs is plain to see, with a multi-billion dollar package at the heart of the scheme, albeit it would forever break the integrity of the club game,” Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said in emailed comments.
Even shares of teams not part of the breakaway group were boosted by news of the plan. Germany’s Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co KGaA rose as much as 7%, while AFC Ajax N.V. of the Netherlands gained 0.6%.
BT Group Plc, which currently holds Champions League broadcasting rights in the U.K., advanced 0.1%.
The news follows a year in which soccer clubs’ incomes were slashed by the pandemic preventing fans from entering stadiums. Juventus shares remain down about 35% since the start of 2020.
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