UPDATE: Sounds like the report from across the pond was premature, as the Ricketts Family won’t be getting involved in this one.
From Dave Kaplan:
Well there you go. I don’t see any reason for okey-doke’ing this one, because the bidding processes for these teams winds up being very long and very public. So if they were going to be involved, this statement would not be out there.
Moving on! Maybe to the next soccer club that becomes available in the future … tbd …
*original post follows*
The Fenway Sports Group – the sports collective that owns the Boston Red Sox – is reportedly engaging a bank to start engaging investors for its Premier League team, Liverpool FC. That doesn’t mean they are going to sell a majority interest, but it’s always possible in these situations.
Why am I writing about this on a U.S.-based Chicago sports site? Well, you probably remember that the Ricketts Family tried and failed to buy Chelsea earlier this year, and thus it shouldn’t come as a surprise that when another Premier League club may be on the market, they are going to be involved.
Per the report, the Ricketts Family has “expressed an interest” in Liverpool, and it seems reasonable to presume they will once again be involved in the early stages of bidding if it gets to that point.
It is also reasonable to assume that they will need financing assistance/partners in the bid, as the team could sell for more than $3 billion. That’s where questions for Cubs fans will come in, because it remains unclear how the family’s purchase of another major sports franchise would impact financial operations of the Cubs. It is easy enough to imagine no impact at all … but it’s also easy enough to imagine the enterprises getting bundled under one sports umbrella (not unlike Fenway Sports Group), and then sharing some of the bookkeeping, so to speak. In that case, the financing of the acquisition and then eventual operations of Liverpool could have a direct impact on Cubs operations (for better or worse).
We know the Ricketts Family, which took over the Cubs more than a decade ago, has long had an interest in having a stake in a professional soccer club. So I expect these types of rumors to keep popping up until they land one.
Stay tuned, in that case.