The complete table
The values below are for the FIRST unit of each business. Every unit bought makes the next one 7% more expensive, so the second sock ball no longer costs 4, and the five hundredth costs far more than that. Output, by contrast, is fixed per unit: each sock ball pays what the first one pays, and it is their sum that grows.
| Business | Starting cost | Output per cycle | Cycle | Manager |
|---|
 Sock ball | $ 4 | $ 1 | 3s | $ 1.00K |
 Street kickabout | $ 60 | $ 60 | 8s | $ 15.00K |
 Rented five-a-side | $ 720 | $ 540 | 14s | $ 180.00K |
 Sunday league side | $ 8.64K | $ 4.86K | 24s | $ 2.16M |
 Semi-pro club | $ 103.68K | $ 43.74K | 96s | $ 25.92M |
 Pro club | $ 1.24M | $ 393.66K | 384s | $ 311.04M |
 Youth academy | $ 14.93M | $ 3.54M | 1,536s | $ 3.73B |
 Own stadium | $ 179.16M | $ 31.89M | 6,144s | $ 44.79B |
 Multi-club group | $ 2.15B | $ 286.98M | 24,576s | $ 537.48B |
 Federation | $ 25.80B | $ 2.58B | 98,304s | $ 6.45T |
First-unit values, in division 1. Getting promoted multiplies everything the club earns, so real output on screen sits above this table.
How to read these numbers
The figure that matters is neither cost nor output alone: it is how long the business takes to pay for itself. Divide the cost by what it earns per second and you have the answer in seconds.
Notice the cycle grows faster than output as the ladder climbs. The confederation pays 2.58 billion per cycle, which looks enormous, but its cycle runs over 27 hours with no milestones. That is why the high steps are long-term investments and do not replace the low ones: a sock ball with a manager and three hundred units keeps dripping money every few seconds.
A manager always looks expensive relative to its business at the moment it appears, and that is deliberate. It is the purchase that transforms the game, because from then on the line runs by itself forever, including with the tab closed.
Milestones, the same for everyone
Every business shares the same milestone ladder, and that is where progression actually happens. Buying units does not only add up: at certain counts, the whole line changes tier.
| On reaching | What happens |
|---|
| 25 units | the cycle becomes 2× faster |
| 50 units | the cycle becomes 2× faster |
| 100 units | output is multiplied by 3 |
| 200 units | output is multiplied by 3 |
| 300 units | the cycle becomes 2× faster |
| 400 units | output is multiplied by 4 |
Because the effects stack, a business with 400 units is not four times better than one with 100: it is multiplied by every milestone it crossed on the way. That is why concentrating purchases in one business usually pays more than spreading one unit across each.
The practical readingWhen a milestone is close, finish that purchase before opening the next step. The counter next to the business name, inside the game, shows exactly how many units are missing and what the milestone will do.
Business by business
What each step means in a run, and when it tends to pay off.
Sock ball
$ 4 · $ 1 / 3s · Manager: The kid who owns the ball
Where everything starts, and the only business you tap with your finger early on. It costs 4 and pays 1 every three seconds, which sounds trivial, but it is your only income in the first minutes.
Buy freely into the first few dozen. The milestones at 25 and 50 arrive quickly and double the speed twice, transforming the line before the manager even shows up. It never stops being useful: with a manager and three hundred units it keeps dripping cash between the long cycles of the upper steps.
Street kickabout
$ 60 · $ 60 / 8s · Manager: The ref who also plays
The first step bought with money instead of taps, and the first time the game shows its central mechanic: one business pays for the next. It earns sixty times more per cycle than the sock ball, in a cycle less than three times longer.
As soon as your bank reaches it. This is the step where most players understand the ladder, because the jump in output is large enough to feel immediately.
Rented five-a-side
$ 720 · $ 540 / 14s · Manager: The groundsman
The step that separates the opening from the mid-game. Output per cycle passes five hundred here, and the cycle is still short enough to give visible returns.
Once the street kickabout has a few dozen units and, ideally, once the sock ball manager is hired. Opening a new step while the lower lines sit idle is the most common beginner mistake.
Sunday league side
$ 8.64K · $ 4.86K / 24s · Manager: The bloke with the cones
The first business earning thousands per cycle. It is also where manager prices start to look prohibitive, in the millions.
Once the three previous lines have managers. From here on, managers stop being a luxury: the game starts earning more while you are away than while you are tapping.
Semi-pro club
$ 103.68K · $ 43.74K / 96s · Manager: The chairman in a tracksuit
The mid-game begins here. The cycle jumps to 96 seconds and the logic changes: watching the bar is pointless, the business works on a different time scale.
With cash to spare after covering the lower steps. This is a good moment to look at the squad: the same money that opens this step buys several training levels, and a strong team earns promotion, which multiplies everything.
Pro club
$ 1.24M · $ 393.66K / 384s · Manager: The gaffer
The name of the game shows up here: an actual professional club, earning nearly 400 thousand per cycle. The 384-second cycle makes clear this is a background business.
After your first promotion, when the club multiplier already helps pay the bill. Buying earlier works, but the return takes considerably longer.
Youth academy
$ 14.93M · $ 3.54M / 1,536s · Manager: The scout
The youth academy is the most expensive mid-game step, and the first that demands planning: its manager costs billions.
Once your income per second is in the millions. This is the point where many players realise the takeover bid starts to make sense.
Own stadium
$ 179.16M · $ 31.89M / 6,144s · Manager: The architect
Your own stadium marks the endgame of a first life. The cycle passes an hour and a half, and output per cycle passes thirty million.
Probably not in your first life, and that is fine. It is one of the steps that become far more reachable after the first club sale, when the fanbase multiplies all earnings.
Multi-club group
$ 2.15B · $ 286.98M / 24,576s · Manager: The investor
A multi-club group, with a cycle of nearly seven hours. A business you buy and forget, earning while you live your life.
Second life onwards, with fanbase accumulated. It is built for the rhythm of someone who opens the game once or twice a day.
Federation
$ 25.80B · $ 2.58B / 98,304s · Manager: The blazer
The top of the ladder: an entire confederation, with a cycle over 27 hours before milestones. Getting here is the long-term goal of the game.
After a few lives. Speed milestones are especially valuable on this step, because halving the cycle twice turns 27 hours into under seven.