They’ve seen Chelsea perform on the pitch, the money has been accounted for, and the executive meetings are done.
As the deadline for final offers approaches, the consortiums trying to buy the Premier League club – for over £2.5 billion – can no longer make any further offers.
Three groups remain in contention after the Ricketts family-led consortium withdrew late on Friday.
Billionaire money, management experience with American sports clubs, and a desire to elevate the west London side to the next level bind them together.
The distinctions between them, though, will be crucial in determining who succeeds Roman Abramovich as owner, with a preferred bidder set to be announced next week before the Premier League and the government sanction the world’s most expensive sports franchise sale.
It has already been described as one of the most competitive, with billionaires forming alliances with other billionaires to compete for a prominent position in the Premier League and Europe’s football hierarchy.
So, who has the best shot at winning? It’s difficult to predict a response from the Chelsea board, which includes chairman Bruce Buck, Abramovich, and director Eugene Tenenbaum, who have all been sanctioned by the UK government.Todd Boehly, an American billionaire and co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball, leads the bidding.
Clearlake Capital (£45 billion in assets), Mark Walter, the owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers (£3.3 billion), Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss (£3.9 billion), and Jonathan Goldstein, the CEO of Cain International (£7.7 billion in assets) have all contributed to the financial sector.
Barbara Charone, an American public relations consultant who has worked with Madonna, and Daniel Finkelstein, a British writer and Conservative peer, are among the bidders. Chelsea supporters, both.
Pros: Boehly’s proposal – the first to be announced – has been relatively free of controversy, and it is backed up by plenty of cash and sporting expertise. Furthermore, Boehly has expressed interest in purchasing Chelsea in the past, indicating that he is familiar with the club. He is reportedly said to have given fans a ‘golden share,’ which would mean that no important decisions about the future of Stamford Bridge or the squad would be made without first engaging fans.
Cons: For Boehly’s bid, which has been a long time coming and has scaled up its investment capacity as deadlines approached, there have been no noteworthy concerns. However, fellow bidder Nick Candy, who may have spoken for many supporters when he claimed he “does not want a lifetime Spurs fan as part of the future ownership of Chelsea,” brought up Goldstein’s status as a Tottenham supporter.Eldridge, Boehly’s firm, has also invested in Epic, the company that controls the video game Fortnite, and the billionaire has commented about how the game has hosted tournaments with ten million viewers. Could this indicate that he, along with other American owners, is in a good position to consider a change in the way Premier League games are broadcast?Former Liverpool and British Airways chairman Sir Martin Broughton is leading the bid.
Josh Harris (£4.2 billion) and David Blitzer, co-owners of Crystal Palace FC and the Philadelphia 76ers of the NBA, have bolstered the club’s finances. Michael Klein, an investment banker, is also on board, although according to Broughton, funding has come “from all across the world.”
Lord Coe, a Chelsea fan and the head of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).
Pros: Broughton has managed a Premier League team before, albeit for a brief time, and assisted in the sale of Liverpool to Fenway Sports Group 12 years ago. Lord Coe, who has close ties to Chelsea, assists him. Both are longtime supporters, and Broughton has stated that he is committed to “a best-in-class governance model with fans at the core of decision-making,” which would include plans for Stamford Bridge’s future.
Cons: Harris and Blitzer’s acquisition in Crystal Palace could generate problems because Premier League rules prohibit a person from acquiring a “significant stake” – defined as 10% or more – in a club if they already own a portion of it. Of course, the takeover can go forward if that share is sold or if Harris and Blitzer resign from the Palace board, but the question is whether it will cause delays in a sale that everyone wants to move forward swiftly. If their Chelsea offer is successful, it is thought that they have a plan in place, but how well former Eagles owners will fare at Chelsea remains to be seen.What else could there possibly be? The New Jersey Devils, an NHL ice hockey franchise, is one of Harris and Blitzer’s many assets through their Sports & Entertainment corporation. Harris, a Miami resident, also has a minority investment in the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League. Blitzer, who is headquartered in New York, works for investment giant Blackstone as the global head of tactical opportunities.Stephen Pagliuca, co-owner of the Boston Celtics, Atalanta, and Bain Capital, which has £92 billion in assets, is leading the bid.
Eduardo Saverin, co-founder of Facebook, has invested £9 billion, while Jim Breyer, a venture capitalist, has invested £1.6 billion.
Pagliuca will be joined by NBA chair Larry Tanenbaum, who co-owns multiple Canadian sports clubs and is the founder of a developer, which could come in handy at Stamford Bridge. Former Disney CEO Bob Iger and Golden State Warriors and LA Dodgers co-owner Peter Guber are also on board.
Pros: Pagliuca has a lot of sports and financial capital, however he only became interested in Chelsea after the first bidding deadline on March 25. On Tuesday, the 67-year-old broke his silence, saying that his “ethos has always been to operate quietly” before revealing his plans. He hit all the right chords when it came to making Chelsea “habitual winners,” “keeping the club’s traditions,” including avoiding a European Super League, and declaring that “Chelsea should be the pride of London for its on-and off-field triumphs.” The True Blue consortium, which includes former Blues captain John Terry and is seeking a 10% stake in any new ownership, has endorsed Pagliuca.Cons: South African politician Lord Hain expressed dissatisfaction of Bain & Company’s ties to potential wrongdoing, but Pagliuca’s camp claimed it was a different firm from Bain Capital, which isn’t involved in the Chelsea offer anyhow. Pagliuca’s 55 percent interest in Atalanta in Serie A could present issues with Uefa, which states that “no individual or legal entity may have control or influence over more than one club” in its championships. However, the billionaire appeared to imply that he would “meet the applicable criteria and regulations.”
What else is there to say? Pagliuca earlier stated that a European Super League “made sense on paper” for clubs that, unlike those in the United States, faced “risks” of relegation and lacked salary control. In 2020, he told Bloomberg that one approach to mitigate those dangers was to “manage those clubs closely.” However, in a statement released last week, he stated that the Women’s Super League was “the only Super League we aim to compete in.”
Forbes provided individual financial numbers. Financial data for businesses was gathered from appropriate company websites.
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