The unlikely beneficiaries of Neymar's failed move to Spain

Brazilian football star Neymar Jr.’s planned transfer from his current club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) was one of the most popular topics during the 2019 summer transfer window, which closed on Monday, September 2.

Even in the countdown up to the very last second of the transfer window, there were perhaps those who hoped that the deal between PSG and FC Barcelona would still go through paving the way for Neymar to return to Camp Nou. In fact, some photos of the Brazilian wearing the new Barcelona home kit for the 2019/2020 season trended on twitter on Aug. 30, but their authenticity was never confirmed.

So, as the window shut close, so did the opportunity to rejoin Barcelona in the summer. Now he has to refocus on his duties at PSG at least until January when the winter transfer window opens.

The big question in everyone's mind now that the saga appears to have cooled down is, who benefited from it?

The media

Neymar is a big player, which means that any platform online or otherwise that discussed such a highly-debated mater like his protracted transfer to Barcelona attracted a lot of eyeballs and eardrums.

In the modern business environment, this traffic is easily converted into revenue, so it is fair to say the media was among the key beneficiaries because Neymar’s story ran all summer. According to Football Whispers, a platform that ranks players according to media coverage out of 5, Neymar’s ranking never dropped below ⅘ during the transfer window. This means that the topic “Neymar transfer” was one of the hottest over the three-month period.

However, since the window closed his ranking related to transfer links has gone down with links to join Real Madrid now down to just ⅕ while a move to Juventus has also emerged with the links ranked at 1.6/5.

Betting companies

Neymar’s relationship with PSG appeared to reach an irreconcilable state at some point in June and July and this enhanced the chances of him leaving for a return to Spain with either Barcelona or their arch-rivals Real Madrid CF.

Even though the terms of transfer always seemed to be questionable given the hefty fee that PSG demanded, the market seemed to sway towards a departure from Paris.

In July, betting odds among the leading gambling companies for Neymar to Barcelona were as low as odds-on, while last month they did at some point drop to ½ in a player plus cash deal involving Ousmane Dembele. Some online slots companies went as far as dropping the odds to ¼, with the odds for remaining at PSG well in the higher single digit.

So, when the move failed to materialize, gambling companies benefitted the most from the high number of gamblers that had waged on Neymar to leave PSG on or before Sep. 2.

Conclusion

In summary, the world of football waited anxiously for one of the most famous transfer u-turns to happen. This never materialized. FC Barcelona fans watched as their excitement for a potential return of the Brazilian to team up again with Lionel Messi faded away while PSG fans were equally disappointed to see a player who clearly stated that he no longer wished to play for their club fail to complete the exit.

This debacle, however, was good news to the media houses who rode the trend of the debate and gambling companies that saw a majority of their gamblers lose out on their bets on Neymar Jr. This saga may be far from over with the next transfer window opening in just under four months.