The Political Economy of Football V2

The authoritative Swiss Ramble provides an overview of Premier League finances.  Much more Information and analysis is available on his Substack page. The Premier League has now lost money seven years in a row. Obviously, this was adversely impacted by the pandemic, which led to the huge losses reported during the COVID seasons with £992m in 2019/20 and £689m in 2020/2.   However, it has not been much better since then, losing a hefty £2.3 bln in the last four seasons, leading to an annual average loss of £564m.   That represents a dramatic worsening compared to the performance before the pandemic, e.g. it generated £786m profit in the four seasons up to 2018/19. ‘ Creative accounting; The Premier League’s losses in recent years would have been even higher without the inclusion of exceptional gains from selling assets to other group companies.   This amounted to a record £293m in 2024/25, including Newcastle United £133m, largely from the sale of St James’ Park...

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 value of English football’s biggest clubs is spiralling.  The new investment attaches a valuation of around £5.5bn to Liverpool, eclipsing the 2024 arrival of Sir Jim Ratcliffe into Manchester United, where a 25 per cent stake had valued the club at £4.3bn. The figures are stretching beyond what most industry experts — such as Forbes and Sportico — consider to be the value of these clubs. International advisory firm Football Benchmark, another to compile annual assessments of Europe’s biggest clubs, valued Liverpool at between £3.9bn and £4.2bn in its 2026 rankings, with Chelsea listed at between £2.5bn and £2.7bn. More than £3.1bn was distributed centrally among the Premier League’s 20 clubs last season, almost double the £1.63bn handed out in the 2015-16 campaign. It means the biggest clubs, including Liverpool, can now expect to generate annual revenues north of £700m, with aspirations to eventually follow Real Madrid beyond the £1bn mark in the years to come. Matchday r...

This week, Liverpool’s success on the pitch translated into a huge return for Henry’s Fenway Sports Group. The club, which carries little debt, has been valued at more than $7bn in a stake sale to a group of investors led by Amit Bhatia, the son-in-law of steel tycoon and billionaire Lakshmi Mittal. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin are backers. Will McDonough, founder of merchant bank Corestone Capital, made the introductions that led to the deal. Talks accelerated during the World Cup. A key moment came when Henry and Bhatia met at Zero Bond, a private club in New York, and built their rapport, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. The powerful consortium has bought around a third of the club and could increase its stake over time.   The valuation sets a new record for a football club, surpassing the $6.3bn enterprise value ascribed to Manchester United when Sir Jim Ratcliffe bought a 25 per cent stake in 2024. There is a growin...

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.

The British-Indian businessman Amit Bhatia leading leading the deal to buy a third of Liverpool does not possess the profile of his fellow syndicate members Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, and Eduardo Saverin, the co-founder of Facebook. He is the one, however, with a background in English football. He was involved with the fan advisory board, supporters’ groups and was chairman of QPR in the Community Trust. It was through those connections that he is said to have developed an understanding of what football clubs mean to people, something that will soon be put to the test again. The announcement last month that he was transferring his shareholding in QPR, a clear sign that the discussions to buy into Liverpool were progressing, produced something of a rarity in modern football. There were a slew of positive messages about Bhatia on social media rather than simply opprobrium. This was despite Bhatia’s promotion to QPR chairman in August 2018 failing to ...

  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...

It’s over a quarter of a century since I worked in the United States.  Domestic soccer was in its infancy then.  I had to get up very early on a Saturday morning and get a change of trolleybuses across Seattle to watch Premier League football at an Irish bar.   Now the World Cup has given another boost to interest in the game, although it still lags behind American football, basketball and baseball (declining).   Is it bigger than (ice) hockey? Probably in the States but certainly not in Canada. “From the data we have and the metrics we look at, it suggests that we are the biggest Premier League club in the United States. I believe we’re in a unique position in terms of our pulling power.”   Liverpool’s chief commercial officer Ben Latty is talking to  The Athletic  about the impressive foothold they have established in the American market and their grand plans for further expansion. According to audience research company GWI (formerly Gl...

This week we learnt that Liverpool FC is in talks over a potential stake sale with a consortium backed by money from the Mittal family, but likely to include some US investors. A valuation of more than $6 bn would suggest the bullish thesis — that football clubs remain a good asset appreciation play — is still intact. Meanwhile Leicester City’s Thai owners also see now as a good time to attempt a sale. The club, which won the Premier League a decade ago, dropped into English football’s third tier last season. There are other clubs, including Crystal Palace, looking for investors — or potentially new owners. Is this a sign that the market is heating up again? Does the World Cup alter the equation? To some extent, nothing much has changed. Lots of clubs have been quietly open to offers for some time, but the bids haven’t come. Liverpool itself was in the market not so long ago, and ended up selling a very small stake to a fund with close ties to the existing owners. If any invest...

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 ...

Arne Slot has been sacked as Liverpool’s head coach. A joint statement from Liverpool’s owners on Saturday confirmed the decision, saying it was “necessary” and “the team’s trajectory is best addressed through a change of direction”. “That this was a difficult decision for us to make as a club goes without saying,” it read. “The contribution Arne has made to Liverpool FC in the time that he has been with us has been significant, meaningful and — most importantly of all to supporters and ourselves — successful. “At the same time, we have collectively come to the conclusion that change is necessary in order for the club to keep moving forward. “As such, we can only wish Arne well in the next stage of his coaching career, with our expectation being that he will continue to be successful. We do so in the knowledge that his Liverpool legacy is intact and will become yet more meaningful in the years and decades to come. “Nevertheless, the conclusion we have come to is built on a be...

Politicians and football are a bit of a two-way street.   Clubs are keen to host them at games in the hope of securing influence.   Politicians use football as a means of demonstrating authenticity. Andy Burnham’s passion for football has built him a following across the north of England, according to new data that suggests the Greater Manchester mayor has cultivated a public brand despite trailing media-savvy rivals on TikTok and Instagram. Financial Times analysis of X found 17 per cent of Burnham’s posts so far this year have been about football, more than almost any other topic, helping him build a social media following that extends far beyond his own team, Premier League side Everton. About 15 per cent of Burnham’s followers in the north of England are Liverpool fans and a further 27 per cent support Manchester United or Manchester City, according to audience intelligence platform Pulsar.  Burnham has been a leading advocate of a 'Hillsborough' law. ...

Liverpool have revised plans to increase ticket prices following protests and lengthy discussions with the club’s supporters’ board. In March, the club announced a three per cent rise for next season with further inflation-linked increases to follow in 2027-28 and 2028-29.    Given that inflation is now expected to be more than three per cent, this is a cut in real terms.   All clubs have found ‘other expenses’ increasing rapidly, especially utility bills but also national insurance. Yet after a strong backlash, particularly at recent games, Liverpool have on Thursday confirmed a compromise.   While the three per cent inflation-based rise for general admission next season will remain, there will now be a freeze on prices for the 2027-28 season. Liverpool Supporters Board say they “welcome the decision” and will now work closely with the club on a new proposal, including alternative ways to generate revenue to avoid future price increases. A statement fro...

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...

Football finance guru Kieran Maguire has told a Livepool fan site that the financial implications could be huge if the club fails to qualify for the Champions League next season:  https://www.rousingthekop.com/2026/04/16/how-hard-liverpools-finances-could-be-hit-by-missing-out-on-champions-league-football/ A difficult question for Liverpool's owners is whether the slot machine is no longer paying out.