{"id":299299,"date":"2025-07-28T19:53:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T19:53:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/299299\/"},"modified":"2025-07-28T19:53:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T19:53:14","slug":"liverpool-owners-fsg-set-for-second-round-of-talks-as-970m-deal-could-reshape-john-henrys-empire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/299299\/","title":{"rendered":"Liverpool owners FSG set for second round of talks as \u00a3970m deal could reshape John Henry’s empire"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Liverpool Football Club have dozens of investors through Fenway Sports Group, but it\u2019s John Henry who has long been the all-seeing eye at Anfield.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Illinois-born investor, 75, is worth a reported \u00a34.5bn. Being in the same room as him practically improves your credit rating. And a huge chunk of his wealth is tied up in Liverpool<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But the empire overseen by John Henry<\/a> is vast, spanning multiple continents and sports. Increasingly, FSG<\/a> want to get involved in the very infrastructure of sport, not just team ownership.<\/p>\n\nCompany or team<\/strong><\/td>\nIndustry\/league<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nLiverpool F.C<\/td>\nPremier League<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nBoston Red Sox<\/td>\nMajor League Baseball<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nPittsburgh Penguins<\/td>\nNational Hocket League<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nRFK Racing<\/td>\nNASCAR Cup Series<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nPGA Tour<\/td>\nUS professional golf<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nGOAL<\/td>\nFitness and training app<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nHana Kuma<\/td>\nNaomi Osaka\u2019s Media company<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nSpringHill<\/td>\nLeBron James\u2019 entertainment firm<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nBoston Common Golf<\/td>\nTGL Golf League<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nFenway Sports Management<\/td>\nSports marketing and consulting<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nFenway Music Company<\/td>\nMusic and live events<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Teams and businesses owned by FSG<\/p>\n

Having a Premier League<\/a> club, or \u2018franchise\u2019 as the parlance goes in the US, in your portfolio is perhaps the ultimate status symbol in Henry\u2019s industry. His interests in Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League might be more profitable as it stands, but there are very few investments one can make that deliver the same level of prestige and global influence as owning Liverpool. <\/p>\n

When you own a six-time European champion with a self-professed 1 billion followers worldwide, there are very few rooms you can\u2019t get into, even fewer potential business partners who won\u2019t pick up the phone. And while FSG are yet to realise the value of their \u00a3300m investment<\/a> in 2010, the mother of all paydays one day awaits. By most estimations, Liverpool are now worth somewhere between \u00a34-5bn<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"ChartPremier League club value growth graphic<\/p>\n

Credit: Adam Williams\/TBR Football\/GRV Media<\/p>\n

However, after presiding over a second Premier League title triumph in their time on Merseyside and now a historic transfer window that could see them break the British transfer record twice in one summer, FSG aren\u2019t upping sticks any time soon. Indeed, CEO Billy Hogan, speaking during Liverpool\u2019s pre-season tour of Asia, has insisted that \u201cthere is absolute commitment from the ownership.\u201d<\/p>\n

The glory isn\u2019t being confined to the space between the four corner flags, either. Commercially, Liverpool are booming.<\/p>\n

In part, it is the outsized growth in sponsorship, retail and matchday income that the Reds are enjoying that has funded the signings of Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Jeremie Frimpong, and Milos Kerkez. <\/p>\n

\"ChartLiverpool key revenue events in FSG era<\/p>\n

Credit: Adam Williams\/TBR Football\/GRV Media<\/p>\n

As for a certain much sought after Swede at Newcastle United? Watch this space \u2013 there is absolutely no reason why Liverpool couldn\u2019t afford to sign Alexander Isak<\/a> this summer, even without sales.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere on Planet FSG, Henry and his Boston-based colleagues are also said to be eyeing what would be the single biggest windfall of their careers to date.<\/p>\n

FSG could make huge profit on NHL investment that dwarfs Liverpool takeover price<\/p>\n

As investors, FSG are pretty inscrutable.<\/p>\n

No sooner had Henry said they were concentrating on consolidating their portfolio earlier this year, stories about the acceleration of Liverpool\u2019s multi-club model emerged.<\/p>\n

As reported by TBR Football<\/strong>, FSG have a Spanish club in the crosshairs<\/a>. After talks with Malaga and Getafe collapsed, La Liga outfit Levante are understood to be next on the agenda. A takeover in rugby is said to be in the works too.<\/p>\n

\"LiverpoolPhoto by John Tlumacki\/The Boston Globe via Getty Images<\/p>\n

But the magnitude of those would-be deals would pale in comparison should FSG decide to sell the Pittsburgh Penguins, the NHL franchise which is probably their most valuable asset after Liverpool and MLB\u2019s Boston Red Sox.<\/p>\n

Fenway acquired the franchise for around \u00a3650m in 2021. In January of this year, it was revealed that FSG were looking to sell a minority stake in the Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ostensibly, this would be a similar move as they have performed at Liverpool, where a stake of around three per cent was sold to Dynasty Equity<\/a> for \u00a3127m in September 2023.<\/p>\n

\"ALiverpool ownership diagram<\/p>\n

Credit: Adam Williams\/TBR Football\/GRV Media<\/p>\n

However, fresh reports now suggest that Mario Lemieux is now attempting to buy the Penguins outright. Incidentally, Lemieux \u2013 who in fact played for the Penguins for over 20 years \u2013 was the man who sold the franchise to FSG in the first place.<\/p>\n

FSG appear to have briefed that the team is not for sale and doubled down on their stance that they are seeking a passive, minority partner. Again, that would mirror their strategy with Dynasty Equity at Anfield.<\/p>\n

If their record of capital appreciation at Liverpool is anything to go by, Henry, Tom Werner and Mike Gordon will be confident that they can greatly increase the value of the Penguins if they choose to hold the asset. It is reported that they would only consider a deal for around \u00a3970m.<\/p>\n

Liverpool making big strides commercially<\/p>\n

Arne Slot, his squad and Liverpool\u2019s extended cache of sporting and commercial staff are currently away on a tour of Asia. On Saturday, they were beaten 4-2 by AC Milan in Hong Kong. On Wednesday, they face Yokohama F. Marinos at the Nissan Stadium in Japan.<\/p>\n

The aim of these increasingly valuable tours is to both create new fans and nurture the club\u2019s existing overseas following. Liverpool are one of an elite handful of teams whose support is greater outside the UK than it is within it, and getting those fans to engage with the club financially is central to their commercial strategy.<\/p>\n

\"LiverpoolPhoto by Carl Recine\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

In that vein, Liverpool have opened a new retail store in Hong Kong and are exploring the possibility of a location in Japan too.<\/p>\n

\u201cLiverpool are where they are today by being the smartest man in the room,\u201d says University of Liverpool football finance lecturer Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to TBR Football<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey have observed the success of the likes of Man United in building a brand in markets where there is lots of disposable income. United, for example, have loads of stores in China where there is a lot residual and disposable income. These are the real growth markets. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to know what is popular in those markets \u2013 leveraging a social media platform in individual markets, for example. It\u2019s a tried-and-tested approach.\u201c<\/p>\n

Maguire also told TBR Football<\/strong> how the <\/p>\n

\u201cAs far as integrating FSG\u2019s network is concerned, you\u2019re always looking at revenue and cost synergies in business. Utilising the existing FSG network means you don\u2019t have to build that network yourself, so it reduces your cost base. Liverpool are super-smart. You have to appreciate their business acumen. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Liverpool Football Club have dozens of investors through Fenway Sports Group, but it\u2019s John Henry who has long…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":299300,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[748,393,162,4308,32882,4884,78587,179,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-299299","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-english-premier-league","11":"tag-football-finance","12":"tag-fsg","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-john-henry","15":"tag-liverpool","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114932613543648786","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=299299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299299\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/299300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=299299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=299299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=299299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}