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Selling at the Top: How Atlanta United Turned Almirón and Almada Into Record Deals

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5 days ago

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Plenty of clubs buy well. Atlanta United built its name in Major League Soccer by doing the other half of the business at a record level: selling well. Twice, the club sent a young playmaker out of Atlanta for a fee no MLS club had ever received before, and the two deals tell the story of how the club made its money.

Almirón sets the first record

Miguel Almirón was a central figure in Atlanta’s MLS Cup-winning team in 2018, and in January 2019 he moved to Newcastle United in England. MLSSoccer.com reported the fee at $27 million, which at the time was a record sale for an MLS club and a club-record signing for Newcastle.

The point of the deal was bigger than one fee. Atlanta had signed a young player from South America, developed him in front of large crowds, won a title with him, and then sold him to one of the biggest leagues in the world for a record price. That is the full cycle every MLS club says it wants, completed in two seasons.

Almada breaks the record again

Atlanta followed the same path with Thiago Almada. ESPN reported that Atlanta signed Almada from Vélez Sarsfield in Argentina in February 2022 for a reported $16 million. He went on to record 23 goals and 33 assists in 77 regular-season matches for the club, according to ESPN, and won the World Cup with Argentina while an Atlanta player.

In July 2024, Atlanta sold Almada to Botafogo in Brazil, part of Eagle Football Holdings, the group that also operates Lyon in France. Atlanta confirmed the fee was an MLS record but did not attach a figure. ESPN reported that The Athletic put the deal at $21 million guaranteed, with up to $30 million possible if conditions are met. Transfermarkt reported the structure the same way: $21 million, plus $9 million in bonuses.

Why the second deal came with a lesson

The Almada money also showed the part of a transfer that happens after the headline. ESPN reported in February 2026 that Atlanta reached a settlement with Botafogo over unpaid fees from the transfer, after FIFA and the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld the agreed terms, and that Botafogo would pay the full transfer fee, plus interest. A record fee only counts in full when it is actually paid, and Atlanta had to work to collect it.

Taken together, the two sales explain Atlanta’s model in plain terms. Buy young talent at one price, give it a stage, win with it, and sell it at a record price — then protect the deal until the money arrives. Few clubs in the league have run that cycle as well.

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Formula 1’s Money Boom in America

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16 hours ago

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October 27, 2026

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A generation ago, Formula 1 treated the United States as a nice place to visit. Today it treats America as the engine room. Three U.S. races, a Las Vegas event the sport promotes itself, and team values that now rival the biggest franchises in American sports tell a story that is less about lap times than about money — and the money is moving fast.

Start with the valuations. In Forbes’ November 2025 ranking of Formula 1’s most valuable teams, Ferrari led the grid at an estimated $6.5 billion, with Mercedes second at $6 billion and McLaren third at $4.4 billion. Across all ten teams, the average valuation reached $3.6 billion — up 89 percent since 2023, according to Forbes — and every single team on the grid was valued at $1.5 billion or more. A cost cap introduced in 2021 turned teams from spending contests into controlled businesses, and investors have priced them accordingly.

Then there is Las Vegas. Formula 1 did something in Vegas it does almost nowhere else: it promoted the race itself, buying land, building a permanent pit facility and collecting the ticket and hospitality revenue directly. The inaugural 2023 race generated an estimated $1.5 billion in total economic impact for the city, according to analysis by Applied Analysis reported by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, including $884 million in visitor spending — with attendees spending about 3.6 times more than the average Las Vegas visitor. The race drew a global television audience reported at 59.3 million.

The audience story backs up the asset story. The inaugural Las Vegas race pulled 1.3 million U.S. viewers on ESPN despite a 1 a.m. Eastern start, and the sport’s American calendar — Austin, Miami and Las Vegas — now gives sponsors three premium weekends on U.S. soil instead of one novelty stop.

Austin’s long-running race and Miami’s event, added in 2022, round out the American trio, giving teams, sponsors and broadcasters a season-long presence in the sport’s largest commercial market rather than a single annual visit.

Put it together and the boom explains itself: capped costs, soaring team values, a self-promoted American flagship race, and sponsors paying record rates to stand next to all of it. Formula 1 did not just find America. It found America’s wallet — and America’s investors found it right back.

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