Here is your Liverpool morning digest for Thursday, February 24.
FSG given £12.5bn Champions League boost
Liverpool will be in line for a piece of a bumper new Champions League deal worth an estimated £4.2bn per year, writes Dave Powell.
European football's governing body UEFA had last month been seeking a marketing partner to sell the next cycle of Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League media rights.
And having settled on Swiss-based TEAM Marketing to sell those rights, UEFA are expecting to generate around €145bn (£12.5bn) for the three-year cycle for the three competitions, which will include a revamped and expanded Champions League that will increase to 36 teams from 2024, with a different format under a 'Swiss Model' and more games to be televised.
Should those values be realised then the prize pot, UEFA and the European Clubs Association (ECA) expect will reach €5bn (£4.2bn) per season to be dished out to competing clubs through prize money, TV revenues, market pool, coefficients and commercial revenues.
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For Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group, who were one of the main agitators behind the doomed European Super League plot last year, the bumper new deal gives them the chance of a bigger slice of the pie, one that will make success and Champions League qualification even more important, and valuable, to the Reds.
FSG supremo and Liverpool's principal owner John Henry had issued an apology to fans for his part in the ESL last year, and in the weeks and months that followed the Reds and eight of the other 12 clubs who had also been part of the ESL proposals had renounced them and returned as members of the ECA, which is now chaired by Paris Saint-Germain chairman Nasser al-Khelaifi, whose club had rejected the offer to join a breakaway competition.
The bumper new deal that is anticipated would land a major blow to the hopes of the three clubs who remain wedded to the idea of the ESL; Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus. The three clubs remain in a legal battle with UEFA in a bid to clear the path for another move to be made in the coming seasons.
READ THE FULL STORY HERE.
FSG linked with another Brazilian takeover
Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group are eyeing two Brazilian football clubs, according to reports in Brazil.
FSG have been linked with making a move into South America in recent months having reportedly been in the running to take ownership of Cruzeiro before Brazil and Barcelona legend Ronaldo purchased the club in December.
Following that, FSG were linked with another storied Brazilian club, Botafogo, but it was to be another US billionaire that would take the reins there, with Crystal Palace investor John Textor taking control of the club.
Now, according to Brazilian media outlets Esportes News Mundo and Bola VIP, FSG are back and looking at the potential of Athletico Paranaense and Internacional, both of whom play in the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A, with AC Milan's US owners, the investment management firm Elliott Management Corp, also linked with seeking to acquire a Brazilian club.
Only last week, Genoa's US owners, the Miami-based 777 Partners, took a controlling 70 per cent stake in Serie B side Vasco da Gama in a £101m deal. The US investment fund also has stakes in Sevilla and the British Basketball League and will see 777 become the latest investors looking to tap into what is expected to be a changing landscape in Brazilian football in the near future.
READ THE FULL STORY HERE.
