Value is not price.
Asset pricing, applied to football.
The full cost, seen from every side.
A transfer fee is the outcome of a negotiation, shaped by the circumstances of each deal. It is also only part, and often the smaller part, of the cost of acquiring a player, which includes salary and transaction costs.
Following international asset pricing practice, Standard Football considers the full cost of acquisition. Using net present value and the option value of continuing the contract, it produces a set of value indicators that reflects the specific position of each of the three parties involved: the player, the releasing club and the acquiring club.
Alongside these, Standard Football provides a standard reference value: what a player is worth to a club of the appropriate level, under standardized assumptions on contract, salary and performance projection. It is an objective proxy of the asset’s implicit value at the valuation date.
Six commitments, built into the method.
| Scientific | The player is treated as an income-generating asset held under uncertainty. Valuation follows the approaches of international valuation practice (income, market, cost), with income-based valuation first. Deterministic models measure what is observable; stochastic models, drawn from real-option theory, price volatility and choice. |
| Rational | Market participants are assumed to act rationally and in their own economic interest. Every value follows an explicit economic logic that can be traced step by step. |
| Unbiased | Only orderly transactions concluded under normal conditions inform the framework. No third-party value estimates are used as inputs. |
| Holistic | Four kinds of data enter one model: sporting performance (286 raw metrics, 38 output indicators per player), club economics, market behavior, and legal and contractual terms such as residual duration, salary and release clauses. |
| Multi-perspective | A player has a different value for the club that would acquire him, the club that would release him, and the player himself. The framework produces a distinct indicator for each perspective, on one consistent basis. |
| Validated | Internal FIFA review, external independent review and calibration with club practitioners. |
Ten principles govern every value.
The value is objective, unbiased, and reflects in all material respects the most likely economic value of the player’s sporting rights.
Values follow an explicit economic logic, not sentiment, reputation or the momentum of recent headlines.
The reference buyer operates within the wage-to-revenue discipline sustainability requires. A market transacting at these values would be a market in balance.
The valuation reflects the factors specific to each player. It is multidimensional, not reduced to a single statistic.
The same method, assumptions and parameters apply to every player. Comparable profiles in comparable environments receive comparable values.
All parties are assumed to have equal and transparent access to the information used in the valuation.
Distortions from deadline pressure, distressed disposals or other external constraints are excluded by construction.
A value exists for every covered player at any time, whether or not a comparable market price is observable.
Anchored to proven valuation approaches, with primacy to income-based valuation, and to the scientific literature on performance and human capital.
The framework informs decisions. It does not replace them.
Three parties. One standard reference.
A player's value is the present value of expected economic benefits over the contractual horizon, conditional on performance and on the club's capacity to monetize it. That value depends on who is asking.
| FIFA Standard Value | The equivalent of an independent rating. Developed in collaboration with FIFA, which, as owner of the intellectual property and operator of the calculation procedure, guarantees its correct computation and its delivery to all stakeholders of the football industry. Use: institutional benchmark, damages and termination-clause reference. |
| Rational Fee | The acquiring club, at the valuation date. A prudent, market-consistent estimate of the realizable fee, including residual contract and release clauses. Use: squad value for regulation, negotiation. |
| Residual Value | The releasing club. The net economic value of the existing contract. Use: portfolio management, impairment and accounting analysis. |
| Standard Salary | The player. Sustainable remuneration for the player’s expected contribution and the club’s economic capacity. Use: wage policy, contract renewal. |
| Others | Standard Football develops and implements a broad set of economic and financial indicators, offering a holistic analysis of the structure and dynamics of the football industry. |
Two independent methods. One stated convention.
Squad value from institutional player valuations, tangible assets with ownership regime stated, and intangibles.
Revenue multiples from comparable transactions, normalized for league, cluster, ownership and timing. Computed without reference to the asset-based result.
The average of the two. The spread between them is reported as an indicator in its own right.
From Enterprise Value to Equity Value: the bridge is stated explicitly, including transfer payables and receivables.
12 game principles. 286 raw metrics.
38 output indicators per player.
Role- and league-adjusted. 18-month window with recency weighting. Dedicated goalkeeper methodology.
Reviewed before it was published.
| FIFA | Multidisciplinary task force: internal review of method, data and outputs. |
| Independent experts | Two independent reviewers appointed by FIFA: external assessment. |
| Clubs | Executives and sporting directors of European clubs: calibration of indicators and dashboard design. |
| Language | Alignment with the FIFA Language Protocol. |
The framework, on the record.
| Document | Content | Access |
|---|---|---|
| Methodology — Public Edition | The full framework, versioned | PDF · email required |
| Indicator glossary | Every indicator, its perspective and the question it answers | Open |
| Version history | Change log with effective dates and advance notice | Open |
| Known limitations | e.g. women's coverage: Expected Fee not yet calibrated, so Rational Fee is not produced | Open |
| Technical FAQ | Questions from clubs, advisors and regulators | Open |