American Pair Buys Liverpool FC

Liverpool FC is one of English soccer’s super clubs. Recently, though, the excitement has happened in the boardroom more than on the pitch at Anfield. In a rather drawn out contest, American tycoons George Gillett and Tom Hicks have triumphed over Dubai International Capital (DIC), the investment arm of Dubai's government, in purchasing the team. The result will be a clean up of the balance sheet and a new stadium at Stanley Park. Not bad for a couple hundred million pounds.

Messrs. Gillett and Hicks are hardly neophytes when it comes to sports operations. Mr. Gillett owns the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League, the most successful franchise in North American ice hockey history. Meanwhile, Mr. Hicks owns the Dallas Stars of the NHL and the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (formerly owned in part by one George W. Bush). What is particularly interesting here is that the two men are rivals in the NHL and partners in the Premiership.

Liverpool is now the third big English side to get American owner, and the sixth owned by non-Britons. Manchester United is owned by the locally unpopular Malcolm Glazer, owner of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers. A bit down the road, Aston Villa is part of Randy Lerner’s billion dollar empire, along with the Cleveland Browns of the NFL, which he inherited from his dad. Where these guys excel is less in putting together a winning side and more in providing (revenue generating) fan services that are cutting edge.

The other clubs owned by non-Brits are Fulham (owned by Moroccan Mohamed Al-Fayed, who also owns Harrod’s), the resurgent Portsmouth (owned now by Alexandre Gaydamak after Milan Mandaric really turned the team around),and this journal’s fave rave, Chelsea FC (owned by Roman Abramovich, governor of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug in Russia, and 11th richest man in the world. Thanks to Russian money, the club is often called “Chelski.”)

This is globalization in action. Money from all over is flowing into English soccer, not always for good (there are few teams that can compete with the money of Chelsea, Man U and Liverpool for talent). New stadia are cropping up, more amenities are being provided to fans, and more business acumen is devoted to building up the brand. The luxury boxes are a long way from the terraces, but the tide is inevitable.

© Copyright 2007 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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