Paris should become a real football city, one with real rivalry, with a derby, as befits such a big European city. Not tomorrow, but the day after.
France’s richest family, the Arnaults, one of the richest families in the world with an estimated fortune of 165 billion euros, bought control of Paris FC, currently leaders of Ligue 2, the second division. The sports newspaper The TeamWhoever first reported this news wrote of a “revolution.” This should be taken seriously, the French understand the definition of revolution. If the Paris FC team, founded in 1969 and always at best second division, were soon promoted to Ligue 1, the Qatari PSG would finally have an opponent in the city again.
The flirtatious thing about it: The Arnaults attach great importance to the fact that it is not their company, the luxury group Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH), a portfolio of 75 brands, that takes over the club, but rather them as a family. As if it were a sentimental affair. The Team quotes a source from the environment: “They want to give something back to the society that made their rise possible.”
Well, this is probably an attempt to appease those fans who still see Paris FC as a working-class club. The glamor of Louis Vuitton just goes with it. But do today’s fans still care? And isn’t it completely different in this case? In France, England and Italy, so many clubs are now owned by golf owners, investors from America and international funds that the interest of a national company is rather a nice exception. Despite sequins.
As we have now learned, the Arnaults are bringing a famous advisor on board for their new football adventure: Red Bull will own 15 percent of the FC after the takeover is completed in 2027. In France they say: “Red Bull.” and their “Monsieur Football”. This refers to Jürgen Klopp, the beverage company’s new head of football. The Arnaults will pump 200 million into the club, the newspaper also writes The Parisianwhat belongs to the family. Paris FC should establish themselves at the top very quickly and then qualify for the Champions League as quickly as possible, that is the goal.
Next year they want to move to the Stade Jean-Bouin in the west, right next to the Prinzenpark, where PSG play
The Arnaults’ interest in sports is not new. They have long sponsored the world’s largest sailing competition, the America’s Cup. Last summer, the Louis Vuitton logo hung over every venue for the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games, and even the medals were designed in-house. The family recently entered Formula 1 with a billion euros. The patriarch Bernard Arnault, 75, is a passionate tennis fan, first of Roger Federer, now of Carlos Alcaraz, both of whom are brand ambassadors for his company alongside many other sports greats, such as Lionel Messi, the swimmer Léon Marchand, the basketball player Victor Wembanyama and of course Kylian Mbappé: The former PSG star promotes Dior and the extremely expensive Rimowa suitcases.
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The Arnaults also liked Paris FC because it has Paris in its name and the Eiffel Tower in its crest, just like PSG. This is crucial for marketing and merchandising. The driving forces behind this new commitment are two of Bernard Arnault’s five children: sons Antoine and Frédéric. It is said of Antoine Arnault that he often sits at PSG games in the Parc des Princes, in the VIP area, with his own children. So a very rich man now treats himself to a personal gimmick: the dream of the derby.
You have to go way back in history, to the 1980s, when PSG faced Racing Paris for a while, both of whom were top-flight at the time. Paris has never been a big football city. On the one hand, this is because there are many Parisians intramurosThe population in the old town has always had a rather indifferent approach to football: the city has so much more to offer for this lively pastime than 22 people vying for a ball. And where football would really be big, in the suburbs of Paris, in the banlieues with their almost inexhaustible reservoirs of talent, the clubs never had the money they needed to become big.
Paris FC plays its home games at the Stade Charléty, an arena on the southern edge of the city, 13th arrondissement, 20,000 seats. It was renovated 30 years ago, but the lousy lawn is often a nuisance. Next year they want to move to the Stade Jean-Bouin in the west, 16th arrondissement. It is right next to the Prinzenpark. That would be a neighborhood with an announcement.
