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Born in the USA, investing in Europe
KOLKATA: Olympique Marseille’s sale deal was announced on the day they beat Metz and in the week they are scheduled to meet the club they would love to knock off
KOLKATA: Olympique Marseille’s sale deal was announced on the day they beat Metz and in the week they are scheduled to meet the club they would love to knock off its perch — Paris St Germain (PSG). That’ll happen in Paris on Sunday and though no one’s expecting a French revolution so soon, American businessman Frank McCourt has said he has the “resources and courage necessary to invest.” He is reported to have paid 45 m euros (`330 cr) to complete the takeover.
McCourt’s newest acquisition brings American owners of European football clubs into focus. “It seems an opportunity to make a difference,” said American Randy Lerner when he took over Aston Villa in 2006. There are seven clubs in the 2016-17 Premiership owned by Americans.
In most cases, though their relationship with fans has been tetchy. Earlier this year, Arsenal fans sought majority shareholder Stan Kroenke’s removal, citing grievances over ticket prices and lack of silverware. Liverpool too have had problems over ticket pricing.
With the Glazers in 2005, the USA announced its interest in European football. Their leveraged buyout sunk Manchester United into debt but helped Malcolm Glazer be the owner after paying only £250m (approximately `2050 crore now) of the £790m (nearly Rs 6476 cr now) the club was then worth.
The club is now worth over £2.45 billion (Rs 16,396 crore).
But since Ferguson left, Glazers have loosened purse strings to turn things around. They spent £133m (`1090 cr) in the 2014-15 summer transfer window. This was sixth months after they paid 37m pounds (R 303 cr now) for Juan Mata. Under Jose Mourinho, the spending spree hasn’t changed.
The other big story of American involvement is at Liverpool. Following another leveraged buyout, Tom Hicks and George Gillett took over in 2007 and when they left in 2010, the club was £350m (`2,866 cr) in debt. But the Americans were replaced by compatriots in the Fenway Sports Group (FSG). Current coach Juergen Klopp and FSG president Mike Gordon are said to get along well.
These Americans owned sports teams at home before crossing the Atlantic. McCourt was associated with Los Angeles Dodgers, the Glazers have Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Lerner Cleveland Browns, Fulham’s Shahid Khan Jacksonville Jaguars and the Fenway Sports Group owns Boston Red Sox. The Kroenke family has teams across sport in North America and Swansea’s Stephen Kaplan and Jason Levien own Memphis Grizzlies and DC United.
That makes them different from David Patey. This American didn’t care much for football or sport but now owns Herediano, Costa Rican league champions. The Mormon claims to have fallen in love with football. Marseille will be hoping McCourt does too.
