The Political Economy of Football V2

By pushing boundaries in commerce and technology, Jeff Bezos has become the third-richest person on the planet — as of Wednesday, Forbes’ real-time online calculator estimated his fortune to be $267.4billion.  Bezos has lost $1.6bn since the markets closed on Tuesday.  An astronomical sum, but loose change to Bezos, and ultimately typical of the way water flows in the extreme world he inhabits. The volatility of the markets helps explain why Bezos has targeted Liverpool for investment.   He needed to analyse only the profits the club’s owner has made from selling a chunk of its assets to him to realise that high-end English football is a safe place to spread a small proportion of your money if you can afford to stick around over a long time. Fenway Sports Group bought Liverpool in 2011 for around $470m. Fifteen years later, it has sawn off around 38 per cent of the club to the consortium that includes Bezos for around $2.7bn.   With a new television rights deal t...

The consortium including U.S. billionaire Jeff Bezos that has purchased a minority shareholding of Liverpool will hold the option of buying a controlling stake in the club per the terms of the agreement with current owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG). And sources on both sides of the deal have confirmed to The New York Times there is a mechanism that could see the consortium purchase a controlling stake in the club in the next 12 months. Those sources stress, however, that the language around this element of the transaction does not constitute a commitment, so it is merely an option that could lead to further investment as opposed to something that is set in stone. As part of the deal, FSG will continue to be majority shareholders in Liverpool and are retaining operational control of the club, with sources telling  The Athletic  on Friday that there will be no change to the leadership or day-to-day running of the Merseyside club.

  British-Indian businessman Amit Bhatia is to become Liverpool’s new vice-chairman and take a place on the board in return for a minority stake in the 20-times English football champions.  He is to be joined on an expanded board by Elaine Saverin, the wife of Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, and Bryan Baum, who is representing Amazon founder Jeff Bezos rather than Bezos becoming a board member himself. The transaction documents provide options and flexibility for how a relationship may evolve over time, which effectively means that Bhatia would be in the driving seat to purchase a larger shareholding should FSG wish to sell more of the club in the future.  For now, FSG will retain majority ownership and there is to be no change in the day-to-day operation of Liverpool. The transaction is not a direct capital raise for the club, or an indication of a change in transfer strategy.  The deal remains subject to approval from the new Independent Football Regulat...

John Henry just cashed in. A group of investors backed by Jeff Bezos has put a $7bn valuation on Liverpool Football Club. Amit Bhatia — son-in-law of steel tycoon and billionaire Lakshmi Mittal — a Bezos-backed fund and Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin are buying more than 30 per cent of the English Premier League team. It’s a huge return for Henry’s Fenway Sports Group, which bought Liverpool for about £300mn in 2010 when the club was in crisis. Shrewder still, considering Henry bought Liverpool five years after the Glazers took control of Manchester United for £790mn in a leveraged buyout. The new shareholders say something about the future of Liverpool and elite football. They’re globally minded, have deep pools of capital, with insights into key geographies and business trends. Under Fenway, Liverpool’s revenues surged from about £184mn in 2010-11 to north of £700mn in 2024-25. But Premier League clubs aren’t going to grow by fixating on their home market.   Broad...

  Much interest has been generated by a group of wealthy investors wanting to take a stake in Liverpool FC.   Why would they want such a stake and would the club benefit? Bhatia, a former co-owner of Championship side Queens Park Rangers, is joined by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and co-founder of Facebook Eduardo Saverin as part of the group interested in purchasing a stake in the English Premier League side. Bezos, 62, is one of the richest people in the world, best known as being the founder of the largest e-commerce company, Amazon.    Bezos launched Amazon from his own garage in 1994 after he had left his role at New York Investment Bank D.E. Shaw, where he had risen to senior vice-president. It was initially an online merchant of books before growing into the global technology company it has become today. He stepped down as the company’s chief executive officer in 2021. Bezos is also the owner of the Washington Post and founder of space technology company...

Liverpool Football Club’s owner Fenway Sports Group is closing in on a deal to sell a significant minority stake in the business to investors including Jeff Bezos. The Amazon founder is part of a consortium led by Amit Bhatia, the son-in-law of steel tycoon and billionaire Lakshmi Mittal, which is set to buy about a third of the Premier League side, reports the Financial Times. A deal, which the FT previously reported may value the club at more than $6bn, could come as soon as this week, according to two people with knowledge of the talks. However, one warned that the deal was not finalised and the timing could slip. Fenway and the consortium declined to comment. Bezos’s inclusion in the consortium highlights the global reach of Liverpool and the Premier League, which has transformed from a domestic competition into one of the UK’s biggest cultural exports. The incoming investor group also includes Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, the people said. Saverin was part of a wider co...

What is the real story behind the acquisition of a minority stake in Liverpool by wealthy Indian investors?  The steer from Fenway Sports Group (FSG), the Boston-based syndicate which has owned Liverpool since 2010, was that Bhatia’s group was in talks for a similar deal to the one FSG struck with Dynasty Equity in 2023, when that American investment firm bought about three per cent of the club for just under £150million ($200m). However, it would appear that a 30 per cent stake is at the top end of what the group is discussing with FSG, although the consensus number among analysts has been more like eight to 10 per cent, on an overall valuation for the club of £4.5billion ($6bn). A significant amount of money, then. But there is a big difference between these stakes in terms of cost and intention. At 10 per cent, most investors are saying they like the sector, and the place of the business concerned in that sector; but they are also saying they trust the majority own...

A consortium of investors led by Amit Bhatia and backed by the Mittal family is in talks to buy a significant minority stake in Liverpool Football Club, in a deal that would value the English Premier League side at more than $6bn.   Owners Fenway Sports Group are interested in capital investment rather than a complete takeover. The investor group headed by Bhatia, the son-in-law of steel tycoon and billionaire Lakshmi Mittal, has hired advisers to work on the offer and is in active talks with Liverpool’s current US owners Fenway Sports Group, according to people familiar with the matter. The football club was expected to be valued at more than $6bn in any transaction, three people said, one of the highest in football history. The attempted deal underlines the continued appeal of England’s top-tier football clubs and the global reach of the Premier League. People familiar with the talks stressed to th Financial Times   that no deal had yet been struck and there was n...

When Fenway Sports Group president Mike Gordon started to plan for Liverpool’s future without Jurgen Klopp in early 2024, his first call was to Michael Edwards. Initially, Gordon’s attempts to get Edwards back on board were in vain. Enjoying more family time with wife Emily and their children, and the slower pace of life working as a consultant for Ludonautics, the sports advisory analytics business launched by his former Liverpool colleague Ian Graham, Edwards had no interest in returning to his old job as the club’s sporting director. However, Gordon refused to admit defeat and following discussions in Boston, he belatedly got his man by offering him a role with a much wider remit as FSG’s first CEO of football. Edwards, who had left the club in 2022 after more than a decade of service, was given responsibility for overseeing Liverpool’s budget and strategy. He was also tasked with identifying, buying and subsequently running another European club, with FSG vowing to embark on ...

Is he a semi-detached owner, asks the New York Times? It is coming up to a year since Henry last watched a Liverpool game in the flesh. Henry is 76, so regular transatlantic flights are perhaps more challenging. But throughout FSG’s 16-year tenure, the pattern has largely stayed the same, with Henry only visiting Anfield once or twice a season. There was a reason fans chose a picture of Henry with his fingers in his ears to display on Saturday — his lack of engagement means chief executive officer Billy Hogan effectively acts as his representative on earth, a conduit between the levels of management below him and the tier of ownership above. Hogan has left a generally good impression on supporters who have worked with him in the past due to his responsiveness. Senior executives elsewhere in football have formed the view that FSG rate him extremely highly, but it is also very clear he is there to do a job for them. Though he is viewed as intelligent and well-mannered, he alway...

Liverpool’s U.S. owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG) has shelved plans to purchase a second football club.   FSG announced its intention to create a multi-club ownership (MCO) group in 2024 when it rehired Michael Edwards as its CEO of football. Extensive analysis was conducted on around 25 clubs with a strong focus on Spain, Portugal and France. FSG investigated possible deals for Bordeaux , plus Spanish outfits Malaga  and Getafe,  but opted not to pursue them. The New York Times  also revealed FSG looked into buying a minority stake of less than 30 per cent in Monaco in early 2025 alongside another ownership group but, again, decided not to take it any further. The reasons behind FSG's decision is necessarily speculative but they tend to be cautious and risk averse. To some extent the MCO bubble has burst or at least peaked.   It was also never quite clear what strategic objective they were pursuing.

Defeats are always difficult to accept at Liverpool, a club where expectations are enormous but the last two have been humiliations, in front of their own crowd, at Anfield, where the fate of all managers (or a head coach in this case) still tend to be determined, regardless of what people are saying on the internet. Frustration has been aimed at players and the person leading them but, so far, it has not manifested into the kind of groundswell where Arne Slot’s position has been questioned loudly enough to influence decisions at executive level. Some of his critics have suggested that Slot benefited from inheritance. All of the regulars in the squad last season were, after all, bought in the Jurgen Klopp era, but it seems ridiculous to use winning the league against Slot, particularly when Klopp was unable to achieve the feat with exactly the same group of players.  There are no indications that Liverpool, or more specifically, their owners, Fenway Sports Group, which is hea...

Liverpool owner Fenway Sports Group (FSG) has ended its interest in buying La Liga club Getafe. The cost of the takeover — coupled with Spain’s strict limitations on spending linked to the club’s limited revenue — are understood to have ultimately made it prohibitive. Getafe president AngeloTorres, who had previously put off potential bidders with a valuation of around £160million ($211m), had lowered his price tag to closer to £100m ($132m), while publicly downplaying talk of selling the club he has owned since 2002. However, FSG were the latest in a long line of suitors to show serious interest in a club which has built a reputation for being well run and developing young talent. FSG have been committed to building a multi-club group around Liverpool since Michael Edwards was appointed as their CEO of football in March 2024. Over the past 18 months, FSG technical director Julian Ward has also been heavily involved in trying to find the right opportunity. French club Bordeaux ...

It was October 15, 2010, when Fenway Sports Group, then known as New England Sports Ventures, completed its £300million takeover of Liverpool.  The debt-ridden Premier League giants had been pulled back from the brink of administration after the destructive reign of Tom Hicks and George Gillett. “I am proud and humbled,” principal owner John W Henry told reporters. “I can’t tell you how happy I am. We’re here to win.” It took FSG time to get the right personnel and structure in place after the mess inherited from Hicks and Gillett. This summer’s record-breaking spending spree, following last season’s title triumph, underlined how increasing revenues have allowed Liverpool to buy established, elite talent rather than untapped potential. Liverpool’s total outlay was around £449m, including add-ons. No club in the Premier League era has ever spent more in one window, but they also generated up to £260m from sales.   “It’s been years in the making,” CEO B...

There are signs that FSG’s vision of a virtuous circle — where success on the pitch powers commercial revenues, which can then be reinvested into the playing squad and the youth academy — is becoming a reality. Liverpool won the title despite spending less than any other Premier League club across the summer and winter transfer windows, according to Transfermarkt data. Its use of sophisticated data analysis techniques to identify undervalued players — such as midfielder Ryan Gravenberch and defender Ibrahima Konaté, each signed for €40mn — means they have spent less on transfers than all their major rivals since their last title win, in 2020. However, keeping a successful group of players together has required Liverpool to extend contracts and increase player wages. The result is that its wage bill is now the second highest in the league. That puts the onus on Liverpool’s commercial department to increase revenues. Ben Latty, the club’s chief commercial officer, told the Financia...

Fenway Sports Group believe there is an opportunity to restore Malaga to the upper echelons of the Spanish and European game and there is huge potential for the only professional team in Spain’s sixth-largest city with a population of around 600,000.  The team also has a loyal fan base — even when playing in the third tier last season, attendances at its rustic La Rosaleda stadium regularly topped 20,000. That strong support helped the team, coached by long-time club servant Sergio Pellicer, to get promoted back to Segunda in 2023-24, despite the ongoing off-pitch turmoil. Malaga is also a well-known tourist destination, and the Costa del Sol area is home to a wealthy expat community, bringing opportunities for VIP matchday revenues and international marketing. Fenway Sports Group is routinely held up as an exceptionally valuable sporting empire, with Forbes pricing the group at $12.95billion in 2024, pitching them as the world’s third-most valuable sporting group a...

With Christmas approaching two years ago, Fenway Sports Group’s ownership of Liverpool Football Club was at a crossroads. Uncertainty reigned. U.S. banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley had been tasked with sounding out interest from investors. FSG, the Boston-based firm that had paid £300million ($380m in today’s exchange) for Liverpool in October 2010, had long since been open to the idea of selling a minority stake, but the difference this time was that a full sale was also on the table. The backdrop was key. Having seen Chelsea sold six months earlier to a consortium led by Los Angeles Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly for £2.5billion — with another £1.75bn committed to investing in the club’s infrastructure — FSG wanted to establish what potential buyers would pay, with Forbes valuing the club at around £4bn. With then sporting director Julian Ward and director of research Ian Graham both serving notice to quit their roles and Jurgen Klopp’s side a fadi...

Liverpool swung from a £7m pre-tax profit to a £9m loss, as revenue was static at £594m, but operating expenses rose £20m (3%) to £632m and net interest payable was up £2.0m to £4.5m. This was partly offset by profit on player sales increasing £6m from £28m to £34m. Although a loss is rarely good news, Liverpool’s £9m pre-tax deficit is actually the third best result to date in the Premier League, only surpassed by the profits made by Manchester City £80m and Brentford £9m. Their sustainable approach is in stark contrast to many other clubs, as some very large losses have already been reported for last season, including Aston Villa £120m, Southampton £87m, Newcastle United £73m, Wolves £67m and Arsenal £52m. Last season was the first time that Liverpool reported a loss (since 2016 outside of the COVID years). In fact, in the five years up to 2019 they had managed to generate nearly a quarter of a billion of profits.     The last three years have not been so impressi...