Liberty Media, the firm linked with a potential investment play in Liverpool, have looked at the Premier League.
The owners of Formula One and the Atlanta Braves, Liberty have grown to be the biggest sporting empire in terms of the value of the assets they own, with Forbes ranking them at the top of the list at $20.8bn (£16.35bn). Fourth on that same list are Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group at $10.4bn.
The Reds owners have been in dialogue with potential investors ever since the door was kicked open to a possible sale back in November of last year. The process swiftly moved towards a search for a minority partner that could help bring both capital and expertise, with Liberty Media one of a number of firms that have been linked with helping FSG bridge that gap.
Liberty’s acquisition of F1 has been enormously successful. Since acquiring the business from Bernie Ecclestone in 2017 in an $8bn deal, the sport has seen interest grow exponentially, thanks in no small part to the wildly successful Netflix series Drive To Survive, which charts the highs and lows of an F1 season with unrivalled and unrestricted behind the scenes access. It is a series that has opened up the sport to bigger and more diverse global audiences.
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Liberty continue to assess investment opportunities, with chief executive Greg Maffei admitting that the firm had assessed options in the Premier League.
“I would dispute buying on the cheap, said Maffei, speaking on the Walker Webcast. “We like to buy for a fair price then hopefully build value.
“The demonstrated success of Formula One, we now have - credit them - a reputation sports and others we have talked to, we can replicate that. You mention the Premier League teams; there isn't an asset we haven't looked at.
“That doesn't mean we've been ready to buy them all but we look at everything because we do think sports in general is attractive, we do think there are upsides and do think those things that management teams have taught up can help apply perhaps in other sports situations.”
Well-placed sources in the US have maintained to the ECHO that no investment is imminent in the Reds but that dialogue remains open with potential partners, with no fixed timeframe on when a deal may get done. The Reds’ transfer business this summer was not predicated on a deal for investment being finalised.
Liberty Media’s president and CEO Maffei, recently served as chairman of the Starz TV network and Liverpool sleeve sponsor Expedia, as well as formerly holding roles as chief financial officer of Oracle and Microsoft.
FSG chief and Liverpool principal owner John Henry was in Monaco last month to watch the Grand Prix, while 11 per cent owners of FSG, RedBird Capital, are set to conclude a $218m investment deal to acquire a 24 per cent slice of F1 team Alpine alongside a group of other investors including actor Ryan Reynolds and Main Street Advisors, a firm ran by another FSG partner, Paul Wachter.
