Owner Farhad Moshiri has entered into an exclusivity agreement with MSP Sports Capital over an investment deal in Everton - and an insight into the group’s CEO Jeff Moorad’s philosophy on company acquisition can be taken from a speech he delivered to a sports business conference.
The group, whose portfolio includes stakes in McLaren Racing, X Games plus football clubs Estoril Praia in Portugal and AD Alcoron in Spain, are known for being particularly selective in the projects they commit to. But Everton’s commercial potential through their move to a new stadium – which members viewed during a trip to Liverpool in January when they also attended the 2-1 home defeat to Southampton at Goodison Park – is understood to be an appealing factor in their interest when it comes to getting involved in a storied English team.
Moorad, one of three partners at MSP Sports Capital, along with chairman Jahm Najafi and chief operating officer Sharon Hwang, outlined his beliefs on the acquiring sports companies when interviewed by ESPN’s Matthew Barry at the SeventySix Capital Sports Innovation Conference in Philadelphia in 2019.
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He said: “For me it’s all about context, understanding context is ultimately what drives understanding and in turn can help motivate the proper valuation, the proper way to see the future and to help a potential acquirer see the future value of a company. We all kind of muddle through at our own pace and I certainly have over time but understanding context is probably the greatest tool I have at this stage of my career.
“It doesn’t mean I understand everything – I don’t – but understanding the sports industry from the players’ side, from the ownership side, from the investor standpoint, from a legal standpoint, all of those things provide context for me. Not only do I see much better today than when I was younger, how integral the industry is, it’s not only a close industry, it’s a relationship-driven industry but it’s also an industry in which the pieces of the industry rely on each other to survive.
“I think the more and the quicker you can understand context, the better you’ll be able to transact business in this industry.”
MSP’s website describes Moorad as being one of the most recognisable names in professional sports and he has been named on the annual list of the 100 Most Powerful People in Sports by Sporting News on eight separate occasions. Before moving into ownership, he was a player agent who negotiated over $3billion in contracts.
Outlining his approach, he said: “We used to have a simple mantra, we better work harder than the next guy. It was to outwork people, to show ourselves as being better deserving of success than the next guy or the next firm.
“The fact is it’s no different if you’re trying to crack the sports industry. You have to distinguish yourself somehow, whether it’s by education, whether it’s by work experience, a combination of the two, you have to be able to show yourself as being an overachiever.”
When asked what he knows now that he wishes he knew when he started in the industry, Moorad added: “I’m one of the lucky guys. I had a chance to work on the players’ side at the highest level for 20 years.
“We represented 25 quarterbacks in the NFL and it doesn’t get any more fun than that, although representing baseball players was fun too. Moving over to ownership, my goal was to make a move into management before I turned 50 and I made it – barely – but I made it.
“For me, being able to experience both sides of the industry was a terrific thing and something that I’m forever grateful for, those opportunities I had on both sides of the table. They’re not as different as people think, they’re not as different as each side thinks.
“The truth is, once again, they are pieces of the industry that rely on the other in order to survive. As long as we all remember that, the players’ associations and the owners as a group remember that, the fact is that the industry is a pretty special place.”
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