Hardball (company)
Encyclopedia
Hardball is a Norwegian
investment company founded in 2004 to finance player transfers for the association football team SK Brann from Bergen, Norway. Former news editor at Norwegian TV 2
and managing director of software company Vizrt
, Bjarne Berg
, fronted Hardball and was one of several members of the investors group until his death in 2010.
Eivind Kåre Lunde is the company's Managing Director.
When a Hardball financed player is sold, Hardball is to have their investment back after expenses are withdrawn. Any profit
s are to be divided 50-50 between Hardball and Brann. Hardball has no ownership in Brann, and the power to sell or trade players stays with the club.
The investors are predominantly local businessmen from Bergen and are known Brann supporters, and have expressed desire to help Brann becoming a top class team. According to Bjarne Berg, the company's long term goal is to make itself redundant without losing money in the process.
The company has partially or fully financed the following player transfers:
Note! All transfer fees are approximates.
Investors of Hardball:
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
investment company founded in 2004 to finance player transfers for the association football team SK Brann from Bergen, Norway. Former news editor at Norwegian TV 2
TV 2 (Norway)
TV 2 is the largest commercial television station in Norway. Over 30% of the time Norwegians spend watching TV is spent watching TV 2. The station has 65% of the market for TV commercials in Norway....
and managing director of software company Vizrt
Vizrt
Vizrt, short for VisualiZation Real Time, is a Norwegian company that creates content production tools for the digital media industry. Its products includes applications for the creation of real-time 3D graphics and maps including stereoscopic playout, integrated video workflow solutions and...
, Bjarne Berg
Bjarne Berg
Bjarne Berg was a Norwegian swimmer, journalist and businessperson. He is best known as news editor of TV 2 and from the companies Vizrt and Hardball.-Career:...
, fronted Hardball and was one of several members of the investors group until his death in 2010.
Eivind Kåre Lunde is the company's Managing Director.
When a Hardball financed player is sold, Hardball is to have their investment back after expenses are withdrawn. Any profit
Profit (accounting)
In accounting, profit can be considered to be the difference between the purchase price and the costs of bringing to market whatever it is that is accounted as an enterprise in terms of the component costs of delivered goods and/or services and any operating or other expenses.-Definition:There are...
s are to be divided 50-50 between Hardball and Brann. Hardball has no ownership in Brann, and the power to sell or trade players stays with the club.
The investors are predominantly local businessmen from Bergen and are known Brann supporters, and have expressed desire to help Brann becoming a top class team. According to Bjarne Berg, the company's long term goal is to make itself redundant without losing money in the process.
The company has partially or fully financed the following player transfers:
Note! All transfer fees are approximates.
| Bought from | Date | | Transfer fee (NOK Norwegian krone The krone is the currency of Norway and its dependent territories. The plural form is kroner . It is subdivided into 100 øre. The ISO 4217 code is NOK, although the common local abbreviation is kr. The name translates into English as "crown"... ) | |Player | | Transfer fee (NOK Norwegian krone The krone is the currency of Norway and its dependent territories. The plural form is kroner . It is subdivided into 100 øre. The ISO 4217 code is NOK, although the common local abbreviation is kr. The name translates into English as "crown"... ) | | Date | | Sold to |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bryne | December 2003 | 2.200.000 | Ragnvald Soma Ragnvald Soma Ragnvald Soma is a Norwegian football player currently playing for Rapid Vienna.- Position :He is primarily a central defender, although he has been both a left back and a defensive midfielder earlier in his career.-Early career:... |
6.000.000 | March 2006 | Viking |
| Northern Spirit Northern Spirit FC Northern Spirit Football Club was a football club based in North Sydney, Australia. Northern Spirit entered the National Soccer League in the 1998-99 season... |
February 2004 | 750.000 | Dylan Macallister Dylan Macallister Dylan Jacob Macallister is an Australian football player who plays as a forward for A-League club Gold Coast United... |
750.000 | March 2006 | Lyn |
| Salzburg | August 2004 | 5.000.000 | Paul Scharner Paul Scharner Paul Josef Herbert Scharner is an Austrian footballer who plays for West Bromwich Albion of the Premier League. He usually plays as a central defender or midfielder... |
32.000.000 | January 2005 | Wigan Athletic |
| Stabæk | December 2004 | 10.000.000 | Martin Andresen Martin Andresen Martin Andresen is a Norwegian football manager.-Club career:Martin Andresen was a regular on many Norwegian national youth teams while playing for Moss, Viking and Stabæk Fotball from 1995-1999. After the 1999 season, Andresen was sold to Premier League club Wimbledon in a deal worth £1,8 million... |
Free transfer | November 2007 | Vålerengen |
| KR Reykjavik | December 2004 | 1.000.000 | Kristján Örn Sigurðsson Kristján Örn Sigurðsson Kristján Örn Sigurðsson is an Icelandic footballer. He is currently plays for Hønefoss.-Club career:... |
Free transfer | January 2010 | Hønefoss |
| Ham-Kam | November 2005 | 10.000.000 | Petter Vaagan Moen Petter Vaagan Moen Petter Vaagan Moen is a Norwegian footballer who currently plays for Queens Park Rangers. Most of the time he plays as a left winger. He was transferred to SK Brann from Ham-Kam on 1 November 2005, costing Brann approximately 10.000.000 NOK... |
Free Transfer | January 2011 | Queens Park Rangers |
| FH Hafnarfjarðar Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar, commonly referred to as FH, is Icelandic football club based in Hafnarfjörður.- Overview :The team are perhaps best known outside Iceland for beating Scottish side Dunfermline in the qualifying rounds of the 2004/05 UEFA Cup 4–3 on aggregate... |
August 2006 | 2.000.000 | Ármann Smári Björnsson Ármann Smári Björnsson Ármann Björnsson is an Icelandic footballer.-Club career:Born in Höfn, southeast Iceland, he started his club career at local outfit UMF Sindri in 1996, when he was 15 years old. In 1998 he was top scorer in the D-division with 32 goals... |
Free transfer | August 2009 | Hartlepool United |
| Vålerenga | August 2006 | 7.000.000 | Ardian Gashi Ardian Gashi Ardian Gashi is an a Norwegian football midfielder. His current club is Helsingborg.-Career:Gashi was born in Kosovo, but his family moved to Norway as refugees when he was eight years old. Gashi is now a Norwegian citizen, and has played for the Norwegian national team.Gashi started his career in... |
6.000.000 | July 2007 | Fredrikstad |
| Leeds Leeds United A.F.C. Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system... |
August 2006 | 5.000.000 (sign on fee) | Eirik Bakke Eirik Bakke Eirik Bakke is a Norwegian football player. He plays on the right-hand side or centre of midfield. He currently plays for Sogndal.-Sogndal :Bakke played 99 matches for Sogndal... |
Free transfer | January 2011 | Sogndal Fotball Sogndal Fotball Sogndal Fotball is the association football section of Norwegian sports club Sogndal IL from Sogndal in Sogn og Fjordane. The club was founded in 1926.... |
| Rosenborg | March 2007 | 6.000.000 | Jan Gunnar Solli Jan Gunnar Solli Jan Gunnar Solli is a Norwegian footballer currently playing for the New York Red Bulls in Major League Soccer and the Norway national football team.... |
Free transfer | January 2011 | New York Red Bulls |
| Løv-Ham Løv-Ham Fotball Løv-Ham Fotball is a football club from Fyllingsdalen in Bergen, Norway. Its origin are two local sports teams in Fyllingsdalen called Løvåsen and Hamre. On 29 December 1975 those clubs were merged, choosing the name Løv-Ham... |
July 2007 | 2.500.000 | Knut Walde Knut Walde Knut Walde is a Norwegian footballer who currently plays for Flekkerøy IL. He is the older brother of Arve Walde.- Career :Walde found success on the highest level in his first season as a senior. He played 23 of 26 league matches for SK Brann and got two caps for the Norwegian U21 national... |
Contract expiered | January 2010 | - |
| Elfsborg IF Elfsborg IF Elfsborg is a Swedish football club located in Borås. The club has won five national championship titles, the latest in 2006, and two national cup titles. Currently playing in the highest Swedish league, Allsvenskan. Elfsborg is based at Borås Arena... |
July 2007 | 2.500.000 | Joakim Sjöhage Joakim Sjöhage Joakim Sjöhage is a Swedish footballer who is currently playing for the Swedish club Varbergs BoIS.-Career:Sjöhage started his career in the Swedish club IF Elfsborg where he won the Swedish Premier League in 2006 and Supercupen in 2007... |
Undisclosed | November 2008 | Trelleborg Trelleborgs FF Trelleborgs FF, or simply Trelleborg, is a Swedish football club located in Trelleborg. The club, formed 6 December 1926, will during the season of 2012 play in the second highest Swedish league, Superettan... |
| Free transfer | July 2007 | Unknown (sign on fee) | Hassan El Fakiri Hassan El Fakiri Hassan El Fakiri is a Norwegian footballer currently playing for SK Brann.El Fakiri started his career with the Oslo-based club Lyn. He made his debut in game against local rivals Skeid on 28 May 1995... |
- | - | - |
| Benfica | August 2007 | 3.000.000 | Azar Karadas Azar Karadas Azar Karadas is a Turkish Norwegian footballer playing for Kasımpaşa S.K. in the Turkish first division.Although he can also play as a central defender, Karadas is renowned primarily as a centre forward.... |
2.000.000 | September 2009 | Kasımpaşa Kasimpasa S.K. Kasımpaşa Spor Kulübü is a Turkish football club located in Istanbul, Turkey. They play their home games in the Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Stadium. The club was founded in 1921 as Altıntuğ. They played in the Istanbul First League between 1939–1945 and 1946–1959. The club was promoted to the Turkish... |
Investors of Hardball:
- Svein Ove StrømmenSvein Ove StrømmenSvein Ove Strømmen was a Norwegian businessperson.He took his engineer education in the United States, and worked in the Norwegian petroleum industry from 1981 to 1986...
- IT - Rolf Westfal-Larsen - Shipping
- Eivind Kåre Lunde - Managing Director of Hardball
- Bjarne BergBjarne BergBjarne Berg was a Norwegian swimmer, journalist and businessperson. He is best known as news editor of TV 2 and from the companies Vizrt and Hardball.-Career:...
- Managing Director of Hardball - Reidar Andreas Madsen - Real estate and supermarkets
- Oddvar Leiv Holmedal - Catering
- Arne Veidung - Importer of wine and liquor
- Tor-Inge Måkestad - Fruit and vegetable importer
- Per Jæger - Automobile sales
- Knut Herman Holler Gjøvaag - Automobile sales
- Hermund Sigfred Linde - Real estate
- Bjarne Davidsen - IT
- Karl Kvalheim - Shipping broker
- Arne Viste - Shipping
- Tore Brynjulfsen - Real estate