- The sun and Florida’s pro-business policies have attracted financiers and entrepreneurs, including a group that invests money in sports.
- Multi-club ownership has grown in popularity.
- There are around 60 multiclub groups around the world, almost two-thirds of which have been established since 2018.
European football ownership today is just as likely to be beaten in a Miami Beach steakhouse as it is in lavish restaurants in London, Milan or Paris.
The Florida sun and pro-business policies have been design financiers and entrepreneurs, including a group that invests in the world’s favorite sport. Among them is John Textor, who is correct finalized the purchase of 80% of Belgian club RWD Molenbeek through its sports investment vehicle Eagle Football LLC.
Other South Florida-based football mad investors are Paul Conway and Chien Lee, founders of Pacific Media Group LLC, Josh Wander, managing partner of 777 Partners LLC, and Randy Frankel, co-owner of the Tampa baseball team. Bay Rays.
“More and more professional investors have moved to South Florida and they love football,” Lee said in an interview. “Football is an attractive and good investment for the asset class. “
Conway, who meets his contacts to discuss the evolution of football at places in Miami Beach including celebrity favorite steak restaurant Prime 112 or nearby Joe’s Stone Crab, was also instrumental in the RWD Molenbeek deal. .
“He acted like a friend,” said Textor, a resident of Jupiter Island. “He’s a great resource and he even flew to Belgium with me to introduce me to the owners of the team. “
Conway, Lee, and Textor champion the growing multiclub ownership model as a way to expand stars of the game without the need for high transfer fees. Pacific Media has spent the last few years buying stakes in teams across Europe, while Textor has already invested in British Premier League Crystal Palace FC.
“Americans are going to own more and more European football,” Conway said. “A lot of things will go through a multiclub arrangement, where one club is in trouble, the others might be able to help. “
There are around 60 multiclub groups around the world, nearly two-thirds of which have emerged since 2018, according to the International Center for Sports Studies (CIES). Supporters of the strategy point to cost synergies and the possibility of securing more lucrative sponsorship deals. Critics, including the Supporters Direct Europe fan organization, say this stifles competition and creates nurturing teams with little prospect of success.
Here’s a look at the top US investors who buy European football.
John Textor, Founder of Eagle Football LLC
Dubbed a “virtual reality guru” by Forbes magazine in 2016, Textor is CEO of digital likeness and human animation company Facebank Inc. He rose to prominence in the world of European football by 2021 by taking a stake in Crystal Palace.
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The South London team is slowly carving out a reputation for exciting football under the leadership of Frenchman Patrick Vieira, the former World Cup winner installed last summer, and could now benefit from the talent developed at RWD Molenbeek .
“If you want to pursue a multiclub strategy, you need to have a global footprint for identifying talent from a market respected by the UK,” Textor said. “There is a very high level of play in Belgium, which is only two hours from London. “
Named in part for the club emblem of Crystal Palace, Textor’s Eagle vehicle is also in talks to buy a minority stake in Portuguese football giant SL Benfica in Lisbon, Textor said. Outside of Europe, Eagle now owns 90% of Botafogo in Brazil through a $ 330 million deal reached this week, he said.
Paul Conway and Chien Lee, co-founders of Pacific Media Group
Pacific Media’s football team includes stakes in AS Nancy in France, Barnsley FC in the UK, Danish Esbjerg fB, FC Thun in Switzerland and KV Oostende in Belgium.
A former banker of Oppenheimer & Co., Conway advocates the high-pressing style that has become popular in top European leagues. Ensuring a common approach to the game in this way means that it is easy to move players to your clubs if and when the need arises.
Its teams rely heavily on data analysis when recruiting and developing young talent. Billy Beane, the former American baseball player who pioneered a similar model when he ran Oakland Athletics in California – a story later told in Michael Lewis’s 2003 book “Moneyball” – sits on the board of administration of Barnsley.
Barnsley qualified for the Championship play-offs last season, bringing them a touching distance from the lucrative Premier League. They failed in that attempt and are now fighting to avoid relegation from the second tier of English football. Nancy and Ostend also struggled, both in the bottom half of their respective standings in France and Belgium.
Conway is patient. “There are ups and downs throughout every season,” he said. “Our goal is to develop a club in a sustainable way, while being a good guardian for the local community. “
Josh Wander, co-founder of 777 Partners
Wander’s 777 has built a portfolio of sports assets that includes streaming services and investments in UK basketball. The firm targets undervalued companies with Deep connections with fan bases, according to its website, and for soccer betting, Wander has so far selected two of Europe’s most historic clubs.
Josh Wander chats with Genoa president Alberto Zangrillo ahead of the Serie A match between Genoa CFC and AS Roma at Stadio Luigi Ferraris in Genoa, Italy on November 21, 2021.
In September, 777 acquired ownership of Italy’s oldest soccer team, Genoa Cricket and Football Club, commonly known as Genoa. He already had a minority stake in Sevilla FC, one of the most successful teams in Spain.
Wander knows Conway and Jim Pallotta, the former owner of Italian football club AS Roma, from living in Miami. He said he had several conversations about buying more football teams in Europe and elsewhere.
“Having smart, honest people investing in football on a global scale is good for the leagues,” he said.
Although Ukrainian football legend Andriy Shevchenko was named Genoa coach last year, the team have only won one game in the current league campaign and risk being relegated from Serie A to the top. end of the season.
Randy Frankel, Josh Harris
Frankel, a Miami resident, got into European football through investments alongside Conway. Through Partners Path Capital, led by former Tampa Bay Rays executive Michael Kalt, Frankel was implied in the Pacific Media contracts, including Nancy and Oostende.
Joshua Harris, co-founder of Apollo Global Management LLC, speaks at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, United States, Monday, May 1, 2017. The conference is a unique setting that brings people together with capital, power and influence to move the world forward meet face to face those whose expertise and creativity are reinventing industry, philanthropy and the media.
“At the moment, we and Pacific Media are good partners,” he said. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Former student Frankel, who has “no shortage” of people who want to team up for more European football deals, also likes the multiclub model, which he says allows an investor to learn things from different countries and of their peoples.
Josh Harris, co-founder of the private equity giant Global management of Apollo inc., bought a $ 32 million Miami mansion last year. Like Textor, he sits at advice at the Crystal Palace. Harris called time over three decades at Apollo in 2021 after missing the company’s top job. He is co-founder of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, which he runs with Blackstone Inc. negotiator David Blitzer.
