This year will see Fenway Sports Group make it 12 years as Liverpool owners, while across the Atlantic it will be 20 years at the helm of the Boston Red Sox.
In Boston FSG ended an 86-year wait for a World Series title just two years after taking charge, winning baseball's most coveted prize in 2004, a feat that has been followed up on three more occasions since, in 2007, 2013 and 2018. While it hasn't been a journey without some bumps in the road stateside they have undeniably brought back a winning culture to one of American sports' most storied sporting teams.
In Liverpool there have been similarities. FSG were vindicated in the pursuit of a data driven strategy that invested in people to seek value where others missed it, and the hiring of Jurgen Klopp in 2015 was arguably their smartest ever move, the German having steered the Reds to a Premier League title - their first English league title in 30 years, a Champions League crown, a League Cup success and victory in the FIFA Club World Cup. Now, in 2022, they are chasing down an unprecedented quadruple, a potentially title-defining showdown with rivals Manchester City on Sunday.
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For FSG the success of their teams has allowed them to grow as a business, and in turn for their clubs to grow as businesses too. That has aided more investment into infrastructure and the playing staff, although some would argue in both Boston and Liverpool that more could have been done on occasion with regards to the latter.
The Reds' success has been built upon having the right leader, the right squad and the right strategy, and unlike what has been seen with the likes of Manchester United, who have become mired in mediocrity and chained to the past since the end of Sir Alex Ferguson's remarkable tenure as manager in 2013, Liverpool have not had to have a summer of ripping up a starting again for a long time. They have added pieces to the puzzle and made replacements that make them better year after year. That has brought them to a position of being one of the greatest teams of the modern era, one that is light years ahead of the Manchester United behemoth that they used to chase.
The stability that has been seen at club level, and something that is also shown in the fact that, after Burnley boss Sean Dyche, Klopp is the longest serving Premier League manager, is also mirrored in the stability that has been seen in ownership. That stability is something that founder and managing partner of RedBird Capital Partners, Gerry Cardinale, whose firm owns 11 per cent of FSG following a $750m deal in March 2021, believes is key.
"Not all franchises are created equal," Cardinale told The Athletic. "And in each league, there are only a handful of properties that are iconic global brands. FSG combines two of them into one synergistic platform. Everyone talks about ‘scarcity value’ in investments; nowhere is it more real than in sports ownership, and in sports, nothing approaches Fenway Sports Group, it truly is a unicorn.
"What’s astonishing about this organization is the average 15-20 year tenure of the senior team. Sports is a revolving door, and it speaks to the quality of the culture, people and organisation that the team has been intact this long and continues to thrive.
"Ownership has struck a very nuanced balance of not being too involved in the day-to-day operational minutiae and efficiently delegating to their team of best-in-class operators, while still driving all strategy and performance initiatives. This is a very difficult line to walk — particularly in sports — and we believe the principals navigate it better than any group we’ve seen."
The people at the top have remained in situ since the start, with founders John Henry serving as principal owner and Tom Werner as chairman. Werner also serves as chairman of Liverpool. But people like Mike Gordon and Sam Kennedy, who take much responsibility for what goes on at Liverpool and the Boston Red Sox respectively, have grown as the organisation have grown.
Bringing in the likes of LeBron James, Maverick Carter and Cardinale's RedBird to the table over the past 12 months points to FSG looking at having the kind of people in the building to help guide what FSG will look like over the next 10 years or so. Chopping and changing at the top, whether that be within the organisation itself or its teams, does not chime with the ethos of stability and continuity aiding successful strategy.
It is the strategy that has helped shape the current Liverpool team under the guidance of the masterful Klopp, and it is one that they will be hoping leads the most memorable climax to the season imaginable.
