Liverpool Football Club is now for sale. Fenway Sports Group, owner of the historic English club, bought Liverpool in 2010 for around $475 million. Now, it appears to generate perhaps more than 10 times that number.
David Ornstein of The Athletic reports that the property created a full sales presentation for prospective buyers. Of course, this is because a number of Premier League clubs are undergoing changes in ownership.
More recently, Roman Abramovich sold Chelsea to Todd Boehly. That sale cost the new American owner about $5.3 billion. That number is the record for the sale of a club. Before that, the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund bought Newcastle United for $415 million. Considerably less than Chelsea, but still a high payout.
Conrad Wiacek, head of sports analytics at leading data and analytics firm GlobalData, says potential revenue from FSG will surely play a role in the group’s decision to sell. He predicts that Liverpool could be sold for more than $5 billion to a new owner. In fact, the club’s $160 million sponsorship deals are a driving force for a higher selling fee.
“Fan objection to the proposed European Super League meant it was unlikely that FSG would be able to turn Liverpool into the moneymaker it hoped it could become by competing with Abu Dhabi-owned Manchester City, Saudi-backed Newcastle United and the commercial domain. from rivals Manchester United,” Wiacek said. “This is likely behind the decision to sell the company.”
Additionally, there are reports that the FSG wants to continue its sports property in the United States. The group already owns the MLB’s Boston Red Sox, hence the name Fenway Sports Group. Additionally, the club has a majority stake in the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins. Now FSG wants to add an NBA team to its lineup, with Las Vegas the top candidate for an expansion team.
FSG puts Liverpool up for sale
Regardless of the future of the FSG, the sale of Liverpool marks the end of a prosperous era for the Reds. Under FSG management, Liverpool won their first league title in three decades, finishing first in the Premier League in the 2019/20 campaign. Additionally, Liverpool won the 2019 Champions League, reaching a total of three finals in that time span.
However, FSG did not have a very clean record with Liverpool. The aforementioned European Super League gave Liverpool a bad image, just like the other top clubs in England. FSG principal owner John Henry has publicly apologized to fans after the ordeal.
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