A big challenge for Chelsea FC’s new owners, an investment group led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, was how they’d be able to keep the English soccer team among the best in the world after paying $3.1 billion to acquire it, especially since as part of their bid they promised to invest another $2.16 billion, which would include an upgrade to the team’s home at Stamford Bridge.

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Now we know a big piece of that puzzle.

Chelsea’s owners are reportedly borrowing $950 million, consisting roughly of a $357 million revolving credit facility and a $595 million term loan. The debt, however, will not sit on soccer team’s balance sheet. Rather, it will be on Chelsea FC’s holding company’s balance sheet. This is a financial maneuver that frees up the soccer team from UEFA’s new financial sustainability regulations, which, among other things, are meant to keep owners from deficit-financing their rosters.

Sports bankers say that while the debt is technically the responsibility of the holding company, the reality is the soccer team is collateral for the loans. Shares in the soccer team are the holding company’s primary asset. The interest payments on the debt are usually paid from holding company cash flow and/or the owners. But again, since the owners receive distributions from the holding company or the team, it’s really all the same money. Sometimes the owners also put up some of their own money as collateral and pay interest, bankers say. A spokesperson at Eldridge, Boehly’s investment firm, didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Chelsea is far from alone. U.S. teams have used holding companies as financing vehicles for years. Spanish side Atletico Madrid used holding company financing last summer.

But let’s not pretend the teams themselves are not the ultimate collateral.