As FSG investor RedBird buys a share in Alpine Racing and Formula One Group owners acknowledge Premier League interest, Liverpool has seen its fortunes become entwined with F1.
In terms of valuation, Liverpool is currently the crown jewel of FSG. Despite what appears to be difficulties in locating a minority partner thus far, it has slightly surpassed the Boston Red Sox in terms of financial performance.
The Red Sox still have an almost always average record more than 80 games into the MLB season, with wins and losses being around equal. The Pittsburgh Penguins, who are located elsewhere in the FSG stable, just picked Brayden Yager with the NHL Draft’s 14th overall choice.
So there’s plenty going on at existing FSG properties, without even getting started on the NASCAR team they co-own. But that hasn’t stopped the Liverpool owners from branching out further, with some major 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)
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
New team 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 courseScheduled to launch in January of next year, the competition has major and varied backing from the likes of Serena Williams, Steph Curry, Lewis Hamilton, Justin Timberlake and Greg Maffei, CEO of Liberty Media — more on them later. FSG is taking a three per cent stake in TGL, as well as taking charge of a Boston-based team, the second of the planned six to be confirmed.
Liverpool.com says: It remains to be seen how the team dynamic works in TGL, but FSG’s stake in the organization itself might prove to be just as significant. Clearly, there are major plans for the project, which has some real heavyweights on board
John Henry and Tom Werner have issued a joint statement on the acquisition, confirming their ‘excitement’ to take charge of one of the six inaugural teams. More details are expected later this year in terms of an official team name and the players who will represent the Boston and New England region.
This seems like an ideal project for FSG, who clearly have some big-picture ideas. Those haven’t always washed well at Liverpool, most notably with the Super League, but there is a chance with TGL to build something from scratch
RedBird joins up with Ryan Reynolds
Widening the lens from FSG to RedBird, plenty more sports teams come into the equation. The investment group has a minority stake in the Liverpool owners — but not in the football club itself — and it is very active when it comes to sports purchases.
In soccer alone, it owns both AC Milan and Toulouse, although Gerry Cardinale has had to remove himself from the board of the French club to ensure both clubs can enter UEFA competition.
Now, it is set to branch into F1, joining Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney in buying a stake in Alpine Racing. The Wrexham owners will take a stake in the Renault-owned team through its group Maximum Effort Investments, while RedBird and Otro Capital will also come on board, with the three parties acquiring a total of 24 per cent of the team between them, per the Sunday Morning Herald.
Liverpool investment chance for F1 owners
This is where everything ties together nicely. Remember Liberty Media from earlier in this article? Well, that’s the group that owns F1 — in which Alpine Racing competes — and it has been credited with an interest in taking a minority stake in Liverpool.
Those links go back to March, when the Telegraph reported that it was one of a number of ‘major media companies’ being targeted by FSG as a potential investor. But this week, Liberty has fanned that speculation significantly.
Speaking on the Walker Webcast, President and CEO Maffei commented on speculation:
“You mention the Premier League teams; there isn’t an asset we haven’t looked at. That doesn’t mean we’ve been ready to buy them all but we look at everything because we do think sports in general is attractive.
“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.”
Liverpool.com says: Nothing is at all confirmed at this stage. But so much of this story makes a lot of sense.
Liberty Media is interested in having a presence in the Premier League. FSG wants to sell a stake in Liverpool. RedBird, already investors in FSG, has just taken up a stake in an F1 team, while the group’s CEO is now part of a joint golf venture with FSG. At this point, it would be newsworthy if conversations had not happened between the relevant parties, though not necessarily about a move involving the Reds specifically.
With ‘Drive to Survive’ being such a hit in growing F1 globally, it’s interesting to speculate on what kind of moves Liberty would want to make if it got a seat at the Liverpool table. By all accounts, Jürgen Klopp has been resistant to any kind of fly-on-the-wall project in the past. But there’s a long way to go before those kinds of questions need to be confronted.
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