£9bn update from the US speaks volumes about what Todd Boehly wants amid Chelsea takeover battle
Chelsea’s Todd Boehly is one of a growing contingent of owners who want the Premier League to adopt more of the structures of American sport.
In total, 11 out of 20 Premier League clubs will be at least part-owned by American investors once Dan Friedkin’s takeover of Everton is complete.
Many of those investors, including Chelsea co-owners Boehly and Mark Walters, own stakes in US sports franchises in the NFL, MLB, NHL or NBA.
In stark contrast to the Premier League, these American leagues are all profitable and have been for some time. Chelsea, for context, have lost £367m over the last three reported financial years.
What’s more, the Blues are projected to lose £97m when they release their accounts for 2023-24.
And while their losses are at the more extreme end of the spectrum, they are far from alone in this regard.
Collectively, Premier League clubs lost £1bn on turnover of £6bn in the last financial year alone.
Yet Boehly and his peers in the Chelsea boardroom are convinced that they can be a financial success, so much so that they were prepared to spend £2.5bn on them and commit another £1.75bn in spending.
In fact, there is so much faith in the club as an investment project that Boehly is going to war with Clearlake Capital’s Behdad Eghbali for control. Why?
Zooming in on Boehly’s sports investment portfolio in the United States might provide some answers.
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The LA Dodgers: Todd Boehly’s goldmine
Despite handing out some of the biggest contracts in the history of sport, Boehly’s Major League Baseball side LA Dodgers are still profitable.
And, with the Dodgers currently 2-0 up in the best-of-seven World Series against New York Yankees, it looks as though revenue across the league will continue to rise.
“Oh yeah,” said MLB commissioner Rob Manfred when asked whether league-wide revenues would exceed the £9bn that they raked in last year.
“We’ve had a good year. Our business was strong. [The world series is an] Opportunity to kind of amplify everything we’ve been working on for the last few years.
“Focus on the players, trying to grow the game into a more national product, international growth, young people.”
“Manfred added: “”When you get a stage like this, it’s an opportunity to take a step forward.”
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Boehly wants American ownership model at Stamford Bridge
If Boehly gets his way in the boardroom feud with Behdad Eghbali, he wants to continue to push Chelsea and the Premier League in a direction inspired by US franchise sport.
Chelsea are implementing a Red Bull-style multi-club strategy, which itself borrows heavily from the American model with a data-led approach and investment in several clubs.
The West London club have, in a move that directly mirrors the structures in place in US sports, handed players seven or eight-year contracts to retain their value.
Take the 12-year, £534m contract that Boehly handed to Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani that eclipsed Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami deal as the most expensive ever.
The commercial focus in American sports can be seen at Chelsea too, albeit with varying degrees of success.
In incoming chief commercial officer Todd Kline, they have an executive who has spent years with the Washington Redskins and Miami Dolphins among others.
And while the idea was met with derision, Boehly has even suggested a Premier League ‘all-stars’ game that he hoped would broaden the commercial appeal of the division.
Chelsea owners betting big on sports investment
Clearlake Capital, the private equity firm led by Behdad Eghbali that own 61.5 per cent of Chelsea, have stakes in a number sports-centred projects.
Elsewhere, Chelsea director Jonathan Goldstein wants to invest in a cricket team in the Hundred tournament.
Goldstein is a key ally of Boehly’s and has not ruled out the prospect of the American joining him in the bid, which is being conducted by Chelsea takeover brokers Raine Group.
But for Chelsea themselves to justify the £2.5bn price that the Clearlake and Boehly’s group paid for them in May 2022, there needs to be a major, sustained breakthrough in terms of their revenue generation.
Many investors believe that technology can help unlock and monetise Premier League clubs’ overseas fanbases, for example.
The redevelopment of Stamford Bridge or perhaps a move to a new stadium entirely will also be transformative financially, increasing both their matchday and commercial income by an order of magnitude.
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