Premier League’s global brand luring US investors

THE global potential of the Premier League brand is the primary draw for American owners of sporting outfits whose huge scale within the confines of the US is not replicated overseas.

But this new band of football chairmen has enjoyed mixed results in England’s top flight.

The high profile takeover of Manchester United by Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Malcolm Glazer and his family in 2005 has seen the club saddled with a huge amount of debt that caused a grassroots surge of opposition, which has seen the rise of the ‘Green and Gold’ anti-Glazer protests growing last season.

Having initially watched events at United with glee, Liverpool supporters soon suffered the same fate after the arrival of Tom Hicks and George Gillett in 2007.

Meanwhile, as owner of Aston Villa since 2006, Brooklyn-born Randy Lerner is far more popular and even emerged out of Martin O’Neill’s sudden departure with some degree of credit. Lerner also owns the Cleveland Browns NFL team.

Elsewhere, the newly-installed owner of NFL franchise the St Louis Rams, Stan Kroenke, is the largest shareholder at Arsenal, owning a 29% share in the London club.

Sunderland owner Ellis Short took full control of the club in May 2009 having initially purchased a 30% share of the club from Irish investors the Drumaville Consortium.

Don Garber, head of Major League Soccer, said yesterday that there is a “real intrigue” with the English Premier League among US sportsmen.

“There’s a belief that there’s a global value with these clubs but there’s also an understanding that there are different economics, one that makes it challenging to own a team and operate it profitably,” said Garber.

“It’s hard to say whether these guys have done anything to tarnish their reputation back home. As more international owners are purchasing teams outside their home countries, it takes a while to get up to speed and understand the structure of those leagues, understanding the rules and understanding what is needed to be successful on and off the field.”

Interestingly, a Sports Illustrated article evaluating the best and worst baseball franchise owners of all time placed John W Henry et al at number one for turning the Boston Red Sox around so dramatically.

Tom Hicks’ stewardship of the Texas Rangers was rated second worst.