As Fenway Sports Group start 2022, the empire that John Henry built has never been more valuable.
While at the onset of the pandemic the concern for team owners across the world may have been around how their sport would be impacted in the long term, as fans found other things to do away from consuming live action, the reality has been that the growth has continued and that the valuations have continued to rise.
FSG's empire includes Liverpool FC, the Boston Red Sox baseball team, the RFK Racing NASCAR team, real estate, a sports management firm, and a regional sports cable TV network, NESN. At the end of 2021 that portfolio was increased with the acquisition of the Pittsburgh Penguins NHL ice hockey team, valued at around $845m (£623m) at the time of purchase.
That acquisition, allied with other investments that have arrived into LeBron James' and Maverick Carter's SpringHill Entertainment company, as well as the boost attached to the continually booming media rights for the Premier League, particularly overseas, and the value of FSG's overall business has never been higher.
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Another boost to their valuation was the arrival of considerable fresh capital into the business from RedBird Capital Partners in March of 2021, with the Gerry Cardinale-led firm having invested $750m for an 11 per cent stake in the business. That investment is already worth considerably more, although RedBird's link up with FSG is one done with the intention of long-term business building and continued growth.
According to Forbes, who published its 2022 list of world sports most valuable empires, FSG have climbed one position and are now inside the top three, with an overall value of $9.8bn (£7.2bn).
Compared to the 2021 list, FSG have seen a $3.2bn (£2.3bn) rise in the value of their empire, according to Forbes. That represents a rise of 48 per cent year-on-year.
That rise saw them leapfrog Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, with the gap closed on the second-placed sporting empire, Stan Kroenke's Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, which owns Arsenal, the Denver Nuggets NBA team and the Los Angeles Rams NFL franchise. That gap has been closed from $2.1bn to $700m.
The most valuable empire remains, by some distance, Liberty Media, the owner of Formula One and the Atlanta Braves. The organisation has a valuation of some $17.2bn (£12.7bn).
With FSG now heading into what they have described themselves as 'FSG 3.0', the pie is expected to grow even further in 2022, with more team acquisitions likely to arrive, potentially to see them pass Kroenke into second place by this time next year.
Potential moves into the NBA or possibly adding more football teams to the mix are understood to be under consideration, with FSG having been linked with a takeover bid for Brazilian side Cruzeiro only last month, before the club was eventually taken over by Brazil and Barcelona legend Ronaldo.
But such a high valuation of their sporting property is unlikely to change too much when it comes to spending habits that affect Liverpool.
While commercial revenues are expected to rise, the impact of a season without fans last year will likely mean that Liverpool will incur a second loss-making season on the spin, as has been the case for nearly all the Premier League teams who have published their 2020/21 accounts already, the only exception being a £2.4m profit for Manchester City.
FSG's teams operate with financial independence from each other and their value is held in such things as the strength of the media rights, especially over the longer term. But a business that continues to be in growth means one that has more scope for investing in the infrastructure in other areas which, in turn, will then filter down to the respective teams. That has been the FSG model since they arrived in both Boston and Liverpool, and it's one that is unlikely to change as they head into their third decade as a powerhouse in sports ownership.
