Where the Chelsea club will go, the outside world may pay more attention than Abramovich himself. After all, according to the British government’s plan, Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich can only sell the club if the government takes over and he does not profit from it, but such a deal may go down in history. .
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The media quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that bidders have reached about $3 billion in bids. It could be the biggest deal in professional sports history, according to financial research firm Dealogic.
Premier League club Chelsea Football Club has recorded a net loss of more than $1bn since it was bought by Roman Abramovich in 2003 for £140m ($184m at today’s exchange rates). But because of the lack of big clubs in the market, their valuations have also risen, and America’s richest are lining up to bid.
The bidders include:
Los Angeles Dodgers investor Todd Boehly team;
The Ricketts family, who co-invested in the Chicago Cubs with hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin;
Stephen Pagliuca, co-owner of the Boston Celtics and co-chair of private equity firm Bain Capital;
Philadelphia 76ers co-owners and private equity veterans Josh Harris and David Blitzer.
Sources close to the matter say Chelsea are expected to seal the deal by the end of April. But Abramovich was not involved in the club sale process and will not be involved in the final distribution of any sale proceeds.
America’s richest
American investors have strong interest in the Premier League:
Fenway Sports Group (FSG) owns the Liverpool football team;
The Glazer family, headquartered in Florida, USA, controls Manchester United, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange;
Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke outright bought Arsenal Football Club in 2018;
Wes Edens, co-founder of investment agency Fortress Investment, owns Aston Villa football club together with Egyptian billionaire Nassef Sawiris.
And it’s built on the growing interest in the Premier League from American audiences.
Last year Comcast-owned NBC Universal agreed to pay nearly $2.7 billion to extend its Premier League rights for six years. That’s nearly triple the broadcaster’s current $1 billion six-year contract, which expires next month.
Alec Scheiner, a partner at investment firm RedBird Capital Partners, said Chelsea was “salivated” even though many American bidders already owned a team because of its wide brand recognition.
All eyes on Chelsea home
It now appears that no matter which team Chelsea ends up with, they are committed to rebuilding the charming but outdated Chelsea stadium in the heart of East London’s West End, Stamford Bridge, which can now hold more than 40,000 spectators. 9th among Premier League venues.
Bidders are betting on the development of new revenue streams, says Kieran Maguire of the University of Liverpool:
Otherwise, you’re just buying the team as a vanity project.
Chelsea first submitted plans to refurbish the stadium in 2015, expanding seating capacity by almost 45% to 60,000. But Abramovich canceled a renovation project worth more than $1 billion in 2018 after Britain refused to renew his expired visa.
