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Liverpool Echo

Sport

Dave Powell

John Henry 'next move' after FSG sale of Liverpool does not quite add up

John Henry Liverpool FSG Commanders NFL Washington Commanders Dan Snyder Newcastle (Organization) New York Post

Liverpool principal owner John Henry has been linked to a potential NFL move with the Washington Commanders.

The Fenway Sports Group chief has been the focus of attention this week after it emerged that the Liverpool owners had been seeking outside investment through major US banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley and had opened themselves up to expressions of interest around a full takeover.

In a statement, FSG reaffirmed their commitment to the Reds moving forward but didn't shoot down reports that the club was available for the right price, the market valuation of Liverpool pegged at between £3.5bn and £4bn.

A sale at that kind of value would represent an enormous profit on FSG's Liverpool investment, the Boston-based owners having acquired the club from Tom Hicks and George Gillett in a distressed state for £300m back in October 2010.

Potential bidders have been linked with the Reds, but it is understood that the plan first and foremost is to try and attract investment alongside the ownership, although they are keeping their options open.

The New York Post claimed via unattributed sources on Wednesday that Henry was a potential bidder for the Washington Commanders NFL that hit the market last week after controversial owner Dan Snyder instructed Bank of America to seek out opportunities for a sale. The team are valued at around $5.6bn (£4.8bn) that ranks them sixth among the most valuable franchises among the NFL's 32 teams.

A source apparently told the Post: "This (FSG potentially selling Liverpool) may be a precursor to him buying the Commanders. John wants to own an NFL team. They will look at the Commanders."

Other names have been in the frame for a bid for the Commanders since the decision of Snyder, who presided over what was found to be a 'toxic' workplace culture after an investigation that saw them fined $10m, revealed his intention to sell the team.

Amazon founder and the world's fourth richest man, Jeff Bezos, has been linked to a consortium also consisting of rapper and now business mogul Jay-Z and actor Matthew McConaughey.

The claims by the New York Post's sources could only point to an individual move by Henry to take a slice of an NFL team, and with a personal wealth that is dwarfed by the size of the valuation of the Commanders, if he was to pursue that course of action it would almost certainly have to be done as part of a group.

The reason is that the NFL, unlike other major American sports leagues where FSG have a stake, do not allow private equity within ownership groups at present. That is something that is currently up for discussion but not expected to change imminently, meaning any kind of suggestion that FSG would be bidding for the Commanders is erroneous.

FSG are comprised of around 30 partners, with Henry and Liverpool chairman Tom Werner the two major shareholders.

Among the partners are RedBird Capital Partners, the New York-based investment fund that acquired an 11 per cent stake in FSG in March 2021 for $750m and completed a takeover of AC Milan in September for £1.1bn. Arctos Sports Partners, who have multiple investments across North American sport, are also an FSG partner, as is CAZ Investments.

That means that FSG, as NFL rules stand, would not be able to take an ownership stake in a team, although Henry would be free to do so with his own personal wealth. He privately owns the Boston Globe newspaper.

Any sale of Liverpool would see Henry, as a major FSG shareholder, get a major financial boost, but given that FSG are understood to have designs on owning an NFL team in the future at a time when the regulations are relaxed, the timing of any kind of Henry involvement would be peculiar.

The main focus for FSG in terms of their growth over the next two to three years, however, is the purchase of an NBA expansion franchise, with well placed sources telling the ECHO that a strong push will be made for a team in Las Vegas, one that will likely carry a price tag of around $2.5bn.

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