Mercury/13

What Mercury/13 does

Mercury13 is a London-headquartered multi-club ownership group founded in 2023 that acquires majority equity stakes in European professional women's football clubs. As of the most recent data, the portfolio comprises three clubs: FC Como Women in Italy's Serie A Femminile (acquired March 2024), Bristol City Women in England's WSL2 (acquired September 2025), and FC Badalona Women in Spain's Liga F (acquired March 2026). The group was co-founded by Victoire Cogevina Reynal and Mario Malavé, with Mario Malavé serving as Co-Founder & Co-CEO following Reynal's departure in February 2026.

The company's platform centers on centralized commercial infrastructure applied across its club portfolio. Operational components include a sponsorship management platform deployed in partnership with PlayMaker, female-specific performance analytics with Catapult as Official Elite Sports Performance and GPS Partner, a global rights sales agency engagement with Wasserman's The Collective, NFC-enabled connected jersey technology built with Avery Dennison, and centralized travel management via BizAway. Revenue mechanics run through three channels: sponsorship (recurring contracts such as WeAre8 and Nike at FC Como Women, and Fever at FC Badalona), broadcasting and matchday operations at owned clubs (ticketing, merchandise, matchday), and long-term equity appreciation in club valuations as women's football professionalizes.

Mercury13 is backed by Avenue Sports Fund, a global sports investment vehicle affiliated with Avenue Capital Group (over $12 billion AUM), which holds the majority stake. Additional capital and credibility comes from strategic angel investments by Giorgio Chiellini, Juan Mata, and Sergio Oliveira. Lauren Holiday, two-time Olympic gold medalist and FIFA Women's World Cup champion with the USWNT, serves as Chairwoman. Mercury13 targets the structural underinvestment gap in women's professional football — a market segment the company cites as having reached $1.28 billion in 2024 revenue, a 300% increase from 2021.

Name

Mercury/13

Legal name

Mercury 13 LLC

Website

https://mercury13.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Mercury13 is a London-based multi-club ownership group that acquires majority stakes in European professional women's football clubs, currently operating FC Como Women (Italy), Bristol City Women (England), and FC Badalona Women (Spain) across three European leagues.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sports Investment and Multi-Club Ownership

SIC

Services-Membership Sports & Recreation Clubs (7997)

akta.pro primary industry

Franchise Ownership Groups & Multi-Club Organizations (Multi-team owners, holding companies) (MPAKABAJ)

Keywords

• Women's football investment
• Multi-club ownership
• Professional women's soccer
• Sports investment management
• Football club acquisition

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Sponsorship Revenue: Mercury13 generates revenue through sponsorship deals across its club portfolio, including title sponsors, kit sponsors, and strategic partnerships with brands seeking to engage the women's football audience.
2. Broadcasting and Matchday Revenue: Revenue from broadcasting deals and matchday operations at owned clubs, including ticket sales, merchandise, and stadium experiences.
3. Club Ownership Returns: Returns from appreciation in club valuations as women's football continues to grow, driven by increasing revenue, professionalization, and rising valuations for women's teams and leagues.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Mercury/13 is a multi-club ownership group that acquires majority stakes in professional women's football clubs across Europe's top leagues. The company provides long-term capital, operational expertise, commercial scale, and centralized infrastructure (sponsorship, performance analytics, and brand) to transform acquired clubs into competitive, commercially viable organizations. Its portfolio spans FC Como Women (Italy), Bristol City Women FC (England), and FC Badalona Women (Spain).

Product overview

Mercury/13 is a multi-club ownership group operating a portfolio of professional women's football clubs across Europe. The company acquires controlling stakes in clubs (FC Como Women in Italy, Bristol City Women in England, FC Badalona Women in Spain) and provides strategic investment, operational expertise, commercial infrastructure, and brand transformation. The platform encompasses club ownership, sponsorship management, performance analytics partnerships, and innovative product features like NFC-enabled connected jerseys.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• FC Como Women
• Bristol City Women FC
• FC Badalona Women

Quantifiable outcome

• Women's elite sports revenue reached $1.28 billion in 2024, a 300% increase from 2021
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered operational, core, innovative and flagship.

• BizAwayoperationalTechnology or Integration · 8 April 2026Multi-year partnership making BizAway the Official Travel Management Supplier to Mercury13 and its portfolio clubs (FC Como Women, Bristol City Women, FC Badalona Women). BizAway provides centralized travel management platform combining technology with dedicated human support to streamline travel coordination across the group.
• PlayMakercoreTechnology or Integration · 1 April 2026Multi-year partnership implementing PlayMaker's end-to-end sponsorship management platform across Mercury13's group operations, sales agency, and club portfolio. Creates unified system to manage sponsorship sales, partner accounts, and activations. PlayMaker's first deployment with a multi-club ownership group and first partnership in European football.
• CatapultcoreTechnology or Integration · 26 March 2026Multi-year partnership making Catapult the exclusive Official Elite Sports Performance Analytics and GPS Partner across all Mercury13 clubs. Implements female-led, women-specific performance models integrating athlete monitoring, sports science research, and coach education. Focus on advancing understanding of female athlete health and performance.
• FevercoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 10 March 2026Fever, the leading global live entertainment discovery platform, becomes FC Badalona Women's front of shirt sponsor and strategic partner. Will work alongside Mercury13 to connect new audiences within women's football, develop fan experiences, and grow the club's presence locally and internationally.
• Avery DennisoninnovativeTechnology or Integration · 8 August 2025Partnership with Avery Dennison introduced connected jerseys for FC Como Women with embedded NFC technology. Limited to 10 pieces globally, each jersey unlocks a personalized microsite granting season-long access to all home matches, merging physical craftsmanship with digital innovation.
• Wasserman | The CollectivecoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 4 June 2025Appointed as exclusive global rights sales team for Mercury13. The Collective, Wasserman's women's-focused advisory business, leads commercial efforts across the growing portfolio of women's football clubs, beginning with F.C. Como Women in Italy. Aims to redefine how brands engage with women's football.
• WeAre8coreGTM or Marketing Partner · 11 December 2024WeAre8, a women-led tech company, becomes title sponsor of F.C. Como Women starting January 2025 for two and a half seasons. Together with Casati as dorsal jersey partner, this makes the FC Como Women jersey uniquely backed entirely by female-led businesses. WeAre8 is a safe, positive social platform with over 2 million monthly active users globally.
• NikeflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 August 2024Nike becomes the first-ever official supplier for an independent women's football club in Serie A Femminile. Three-year technical partnership includes kit supply, brand campaigns (We Belong Here), and global marketing initiatives shot at Lake Como. Landmark partnership for women's football in Italy.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Bay FC: Bay FC is a 2024 NWSL expansion club backed by Sixth Street and a high-profile investor group. It is comparable to Mercury13's portfolio clubs as a recently launched women's franchise with institutional capital and brand-led positioning, providing a market signal for women's club valuations.
• Angel City FC: Angel City FC is a high-profile NWSL club with significant private equity and celebrity backing, including Ares Management. It represents the closest US analog to Mercury13's model: institutional capital combined with brand-led positioning to elevate a women's football club commercially.
• Michele Kang / Kang Group: Michele Kang is the most direct comparable: she owns Washington Spirit (NWSL), OL Reign (NWSL), and London City Lionesses (England) through a multi-club ownership vehicle focused exclusively on women's football. Like Mercury13, Kang Group pursues consolidation across multiple leagues and invests in performance infrastructure (Kang's Lyon operation).
• Washington Spirit: Washington Spirit is an NWSL club owned by Michele Kang's group, and is directly comparable as part of a women's football multi-club ownership network. Its recent performance and commercial trajectory benchmark how Mercury13's clubs could evolve under dedicated ownership.
• San Diego Wave FC: San Diego Wave FC is an NWSL club with significant private investment. It is comparable as a women's football club pursuing brand-led commercialization and stadium-led fan engagement, similar to Mercury13's playbook at FC Como Women.
• OL Lyonnes (Olympique Lyonnais Féminin): Now owned by Michele Kang and operating under Eagle Football Group, OL Lyonnes is the most successful women's football club in Europe. It serves as the gold standard for women's club economics that Mercury13's portfolio clubs aspire to emulate, particularly in sponsorship monetization and Champions League participation.

Others

• Catapult Sports: Catapult is Mercury13's exclusive performance analytics partner across all clubs and a leading sports technology provider globally. It is comparable as an enabling technology vendor whose women's-specific performance models underpin Mercury13's athlete development differentiation.
• Wasserman | The Collective: The Collective is Wasserman's women's sports-focused advisory business and Mercury13's exclusive global rights sales partner. It is a key ecosystem participant that shapes how commercial value flows across the women's football sponsorship market Mercury13 operates in.

Broad incumbents

• City Football Group: City Football Group operates the most successful multi-club ownership model in men's football (Manchester City, Girona, Palermo, etc.) and has expanded into women's football via Manchester City Women. It is the established blueprint Mercury13 is adapting for the women's game.
• Chelsea Women: Chelsea Women operates under BlueCo, a broader multi-club sports ownership group (also holding Chelsea men, Strasbourg, and others). It is comparable as a top-tier women's football club embedded in a multi-club ownership structure, though the parent group is not exclusively focused on women's football.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses1 record

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks1 record

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xinstagram.com/mercury13
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mercury13
• Instagraminstagram.com/mercury13

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Mercury/13