Sunderland agree sale of majority stake in women’s team to Bay Collective | OneFootball

Sunderland have agreed to sell a significant majority stake in their women’s team to Bay Collective, backed by US investment firm Sixth Street. The Athletic reports Bay Collective would take around 80 percent, pending approval from WSL Football, a figure also reported by Bloomberg in late March.

Bay Collective is led by Kay Cossington, the FA’s former women’s technical director. The move would make Sunderland the fourth Premier League club in two years to sell a stake in their women’s side to outside investors.

Chelsea, Aston Villa and Everton first restructured their women’s teams. Chelsea’s June 2024 internal transfer booked a £198m paper profit that underpinned a £262m men’s loss without breaching PSR. No such move has occurred on Wearside, with Sunderland Association Football Club Limited keeping a minority stake and Bay Collective UK Limited expected to take control, set up in April 2025 with Cossington the sole current director.

The price is undisclosed. The deal will produce a profit in the men’s accounts, which the club views as ancillary, and Sunderland are not expected to face PSR issues this season. From next season a squad cost rule will supersede such PSR effects.

The sale is intended to build on progress since chairman Kyril Louis-Dreyfus arrived in February 2021. Spending on Sunderland Women rose to £1.4m in 2024-25, about a third higher than the year before. They will remain in WSL2 in 2026-27 and have not played top tier since 2017-18 after failing to apply for a licence.

Source: NY Times