From a valuation standpoint, Liverpool is currently the most valuable asset in the FSG portfolio. It appears to be having difficulty finding a minority investor thus far, but in terms of profitability, it has surpassed the Boston Red Sox by a slight margin.
After more than 80 games in the MLB season, the Red Sox continue to balance wins and losses, maintaining an almost perfect record. The Pittsburgh Penguins, another team in the FSG stable, just selected Brayden Yager with the 14th overall choice in the NHL Draft while they are in the off-season.
Without even mentioning the NASCAR team they co-own, there is a lot going on at the FSG assets that are now in operation. However, this hasn’t stopped the owners of Liverpool from taking additional chances, as evidenced by several significant developments this week.
FSG has taken over a brand new team in an entirely new competition, also taking a stake in the organization itself. Meanwhile, RedBird — one of the investors in the Liverpool owners — has acquired a share in a Formula One (F1) team. And speaking of F1, there’s potential developments when it comes to a Liverpool takeover, with the world of motorsport involved. Here’s a round-up of a very eventful week for FSG.
Not since November 2021 has FSG acquired a new sports team. On that occasion, it was the Pittsburgh Penguins. The latest purchase is rather less traditional. The Liverpool owners have thrown their hat into the ‘TGL’ ring. Devised by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, the golf competition will see an initial six teams of three PGA Tour players face off against one another on a virtual course.
The competition, which is set to debut in January of next year, has significant support from a variety of celebrities, including Justin Timberlake, Serena Williams, Steph Curry, , and Greg Maffei, CEO of Liberty Media. More about these celebrities will be discussed later. In addition to assuming management of a team based in Boston—the second of the six teams that are expected to be confirmed—FSG is also acquiring a three percent investment in TGL.
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It’s unclear how the team dynamic functions in TGL, but FSG’s ownership of the company may end up being as important, according to Liverpool.com. There are obviously big intentions for the project, and some very important people are involved.
In a joint statement announcing the acquisition, John Henry and Tom Werner expressed their “excitement” at leading one of the six founding teams. Later this year, further information about the players who will represent Boston and the New England region as well as the official squad name are anticipated.
FSG seems to be the perfect fit for this project; they obviously have some big-picture thinking. Those haven’t always gone over well at Liverpool, especially in the Super League, but TGL offers an opportunity to start over.
Several more sports teams enter the picture when we extend our perspective from FSG to RedBird. The investing group is particularly involved in sports purchases and holds a minority position in the Liverpool owners, but not in the football club itself.
It owns Toulouse and AC Milan in soccer alone, however in order for both teams to be eligible for UEFA competition, Gerry Cardinale had to step down from the French club’s board.
It is now preparing to enter the Formula One scene by purchasing an interest in Alpine Racing alongside Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds. Through their organization Maximum Effort Investments, the Wrexham owners will invest in the Renault-owned squad. RedBird and Otro Capital will also join the partnership.
According to Liverpool.com, RedBird and Liverpool share many actual and tangible business links, notwithstanding their indirect relationship. With the sporting circle appearing to be becoming bigger by the day, it’s definitely worthwhile to monitor the actions of the investing group.
It remains to be seen if Reynolds and McElhenney wind up in the FSG contacts book, but it is certain that Wrexham’s profile is rising quickly as a result of the promotion and popular documentary series, as evidenced by the club’s friendly match against Manchester United this summer. Perhaps in the future, there will be a Liverpool match.
This is when it all comes together quite nicely. Recall Liberty Media from the previous section of this piece? That’s the organization that owns Formula One, the competition in which Alpine Racing participates, and it’s been reported that they’re interested in purchasing a small share in Liverpool.
These ties date back to March, when the Telegraph revealed that FSG was pursuing several “major media companies” as possible investors. However Liberty has greatly stoked that rumor this week.
During his remarks on the Walker Webcast, President and CEO Maffei addressed rumors:
You bring up the Premier League teams; we have examined every single asset. Although we don’t think we’d be willing to buy them all, we do consider them all because we find sports to be appealing in general.
“We do think there are upsides and do think those things that management teams have taught us can help apply perhaps in other sports situations.”
According to Liverpool.com, nothing has been confirmed as of yet. However, a great deal of this tale makes logic.
Being involved in the Premier League is something Liberty Media is interested in doing. FSG wishes to divest from Liverpool. The CEO of the company is now involved in a joint golf venture with FSG, and RedBird, which was already an investor in FSG, has recently acquired an interest in an F1 team. It would be noteworthy at this stage if there had been no conversations between
With ‘Drive to Survive’ becoming such a hit in expanding Formula One worldwide, it’s intriguing to think about the kinds of movements Liberty may wish to undertake in the event that it was granted a seat at the Liverpool table. By all accounts, Jürgen Klopp has previously opposed any type of fly-on-the-wall initiative. However, it will take some time before those kinds of questions have to be addressed.
