How John Henry took Liverpool from crisis club to $7bn juggernaut

{"text":[[{"start":11.4,"text":"In the autumn of 2010 Liverpool Football Club was staring into a bleak winter ahead."}],[{"start":17.35,"text":"English football’s sleeping giant had just sunk into the Premier League relegation zone after losing 2-1 at home to newly promoted Blackpool. Before the match, thousands of supporters marched in protest against the heavily indebted club’s unpopular American owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett."}],[{"start":35.900000000000006,"text":"So when another wealthy American, Boston Red Sox owner John Henry, sealed a £300mn takeover of Liverpool only days later, he had plenty to prove."}],[{"start":47.00000000000001,"text":"“We’re here to win. We have a tradition of winning. We’ll do whatever we need to do,” the commodities trader turned sports investor declared after the deal, which wiped out the debt that was endangering the historic club."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":58.650000000000006,"text":"Henry has been as good as his word. Liverpool have since won two Premier League titles, including their first since 1990, both of England’s domestic cup trophies and the Uefa Champions League. Revenues have surged from around £184mn in 2010-11 to north of £700mn in 2024-25. "}],[{"start":81.5,"text":"This week, Liverpool’s success on the pitch translated into a huge return for Henry’s Fenway Sports Group."}],[{"start":88.5,"text":"The club, which carries little debt, has been valued at more than $7bn in a stake sale to a group of investors led by Amit Bhatia, the son-in-law of steel tycoon and billionaire Lakshmi Mittal. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin are backers."}],[{"start":107.85,"text":"Will McDonough, founder of merchant bank Corestone Capital, made the introductions that led to the deal. "}],[{"start":113.75,"text":"Talks accelerated during the World Cup. A key moment came when Henry and Bhatia met at Zero Bond, a private club in New York, and built their rapport, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. The FT first reported the talks on July 21, just two days after Spain beat Argentina in the final."}],[{"start":133.15,"text":"The powerful consortium has bought around a third of the club and could increase its stake over time, people with knowledge of the deal said."}],[{"start":140.70000000000002,"text":"The valuation sets a new record for a football club, surpassing the $6.3bn enterprise value ascribed to Manchester United when Sir Jim Ratcliffe bought a 25 per cent stake in 2024. "}],[{"start":153.55,"text":"There is a growing belief among investors that live sport is relatively insulated from AI disruption. Top clubs also benefit from huge loyal fan bases, scarcity value — there is only one Liverpool FC — and low correlation to stock markets. "}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":170.3,"text":"Steven Horowitz, a banker who advised the previous two buyers of Liverpool, says the Premier League “paradox” is that clubs “can be terrible dividend stocks but terrific long-term assets”."}],[{"start":181.35000000000002,"text":"“You’re buying scarcity, global relevance and an extraordinarily sticky consumer — people change jobs, cities and spouses, but they very rarely change their football club,” he added."}],[{"start":192.75000000000003,"text":"Liverpool struggled on the pitch in the early years of Fenway’s ownership but a turning point came in 2015 with the appointment of charismatic manager Jürgen Klopp, whose teams thrilled fans with their high-energy “heavy metal” football."}],[{"start":206.25000000000003,"text":"Behind the scenes, Fenway deployed the sort of sophisticated data analysis that it helped pioneer at the Red Sox to recruit the players to suit Klopp’s system. Liverpool often bought players who were undervalued by the market and who would complement other players in the squad."}],[{"start":223.25000000000003,"text":"In addition to stars like Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah and Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk, reportedly bought for £34mn and £75mn respectively, Liverpool signed unfancied players for comparatively low sums who went on to become first-team regulars. Scottish left-back Andy Robertson joined from Hull City for about £10mn in 2017."}],[{"start":248.40000000000003,"text":"Off the pitch, Fenway expanded the capacity of Anfield, Liverpool’s home stadium, from about 45,000 in 2010 to more than 61,000, helping to almost triple match day revenues from £40.9mn in 2010-11 to £115.6mn in 2024-25."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":271.35,"text":"“Since the initial acquisition, [Fenway] have rarely put in much funding and it has always been in the form of loans, as opposed to equity investment, some of which have since been repaid. These have basically only been used to improve infrastructure at the stadium,” said Kieron O’Connor, the football finance consultant who blogs as SwissRamble."}],[{"start":290.15000000000003,"text":"But Fenway has also clashed with supporters over the years. They joined 11 other clubs in signing up to the failed European Super League in 2021, sparking an angry protest from supporters. Critics said the US-style closed competition went against Europe’s more meritocratic system of promotion and relegation."}],[{"start":309.70000000000005,"text":"Liverpool fans have also repeatedly protested against ticket price rises, constraining an otherwise straightforward way to boost revenues. The club endured a disappointing 2025-26 season, finishing in fifth place despite spending €482mn to sign new players in the preceding summer transfer window, the most of any club in the Premier League."}],[{"start":333.80000000000007,"text":"O’Connor estimates that Liverpool’s revenues increased from about £700mn to £750mn in the 2025-26 season due to commercial growth and more income from Champions League and Premier League TV rights deals."}],[{"start":348.80000000000007,"text":"People close to the deal say Liverpool’s new shareholders can help the club grow its presence in Asia and elsewhere. They also pointed to the ecommerce and social media knowhow of Bezos and Saverin, as the club looks to increase its revenues further. "}],[{"start":362.75000000000006,"text":"“The only way to grow the club is to grow geographically and grow it online. These are three of the best people in the world to do that,” one of the people said."}],[{"start":373.00000000000006,"text":"Fenway’s stake sale values Liverpool at about seven times O’Connor’s estimated revenues for 2025-26, slightly above the roughly 6.9 times revenue paid by Ratcliffe for United. "}],[{"start":386.20000000000005,"text":"At the time of the respective deals, Liverpool’s net debt — which stood at £283mn in 2025 — was below United’s, which stood at £537mn in 2023, according to SwissRamble."}],[{"start":399.55000000000007,"text":"There is, however, still a major gap between valuations of Premier League clubs and those for US sports teams, which can exceed 10 times revenue."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":409.50000000000006,"text":"That is explained by the threat of relegation and the possibility of failing to qualify for the lucrative Champions League. Additionally, the intense competition between teams requires constant spending to recruit and retain players, which can wipe out profits. "}],[{"start":424.8500000000001,"text":"O’Connor said he does not expect the bumper valuation fetched by Liverpool to act as a catalyst for other club deals."}],[{"start":431.55000000000007,"text":"“Only elite clubs can attract such a valuation, while there are very few people who have the means to invest at this level,” he explained."}],[{"start":439.45000000000005,"text":"The arrival of a member of the Mittal family, Bezos and Saverin at a Premier League club has provided another stark reminder of the growing financial gap between the best and the rest."}],[{"start":450.45000000000005,"text":"“How does anyone aspire to compete with the superpowers?” asked one English football executive. “What happens to everyone else?”"}],[{"start":467.1,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1786777475_1172.mp3"}