Celtic plc (LSE: CCP) or CLTFF has £67.327 million in net cash.
CCP's 19.45 hectares or 48.06 acres of land in Lennoxtown next to Lennox Castle that they acquired for £493,000 in June 2006 (no evidence of corruption was found) to build their Lennoxtown Training Centre had an estimated market value of £32.5 million at the time it was acquired. The Scotland "all properties" price index has increased by 58.02% between June 2006 and April 2024. NIA estimates that CCP's 48.06 acres in Lennoxtown is currently worth £51.36 million.
CCP's 5.33 hectares or 13.17 acres of land at Westhorn near Celtic Park that they acquired for £675,000 in January 2008 (no evidence of corruption was found) had an estimated market value of £11.4 million at the time it was acquired. The Scotland "all properties" price index has increased by 37.54% between January 2008 and April 2024. NIA estimates that CCP's 13.17 acres at Westhorn is currently worth £15.68 million.
Since going public, CCP has invested a total of £83.127 million into Celtic Park upgrades and maintenance. NIA estimates that Celtic Park and its land is worth approximately £300 million. In comparison, the most similar MLB stadium to Celtic Park is Fenway Park. Forbes estimates that the Boston Red Sox's Fenway Park is worth $1.156 billion or £906.67 million. Celtic Park's capacity of 60,363 is 59.88% larger than Fenway Park's capacity of 37,755. A valuation for Celtic Park of £300 million or less than one-third of Fenway Park's valuation of £906.67 million when Celtic Park is 59.88% larger is a conservative estimate. On TripAdvisor, both Celtic Park and Fenway Park are ranked the #2 best thing to do in Glasgow and Boston, respectively. 90.73% of Celtic Park reviews are a perfect 5 stars vs. 76.21% of Fenway Park reviews a perfect 5 stars.
NIA believes the Celtic FC brand is worth at least £200 million and if the Boston Celtics sell for $7-$8 billion like NIA predicts, the market could potentially value the Celtic FC brand significantly higher than our estimate of £200 million. CCP's Adidas deal alone earned the company €34 million in 2023 with Celtic FC kit sales breaking out into Europe's top 20 for the first time ever with a ranking of #17 out of all 1,100+ European football clubs. For comparison, Manchester City kit sales in 2023 were €73 million and it was recently estimated that the Manchester City brand is worth £1 billion. If demand for Celtic FC kits is equal to 46.58% of Manchester City kits a valuation for the Celtic FC brand of only 20% of Manchester City's brand value of £1 billion is a conservative estimate.
Transfermarkt estimates that the Celtic FC Men's Squad has total value in the transfer market of €123 million or £104 million. They value Matt O'Riley at €20 million and many English Premier League teams are desperately trying to buy him from Celtic FC this summer. Many industry insiders believe that Celtic FC could receive a record breaking £30 million transfer fee for Matt O'Riley, which is much more than the Transfermarkt valuation estimate.
One week ago, a Carlyle led investment group acquired National Women’s Soccer League’s Seattle Reign for $58 million for a valuation increase of 1,557% in the last five years from the $3.5 million they were previously acquired for in 2019. The Seattle Reign are terrible with a current record of 2 wins and 9 losses. CCP's Celtic Women's Football Club had a record this year of 26 wins and 2 losses and won the national championship! NIA is sure that the Celtic Women's Football Club is worth an amount that is at least equal to the Seattle Reign of $58 million or £45.52 million and it is probably worth a lot more than that!
How about we add this up...
Net cash: £67.327 million, Lennoxtown Land: £51.36 million, Westhorn Land: £15.68 million, Celtic Park: £300 million, Celtic FC Brand: £200 million, Celtic FC Men's Squad Total Transfer Market Value: £104 million, Celtic Women's Football Club: £45.52 million.
This values Celtic plc (LSE: CCP) at £783.89 million and CLTFF at $1 billion!
Past performance is not an indicator of future returns. NIA is not an investment advisor and does not provide investment advice. Always do your own research and make your own investment decisions. This message is not a solicitation or recommendation to buy, sell, or hold securities. This message is meant for informational and educational purposes only and does not provide investment advice.