Friday, October 8, 2010

The Liverpool Sale

Football news has been about nothing but the attempted takeover of the English Premier League club Liverpool by American investors, the New England Sports Ventures (NESV). NESV are owners of the Boston Red Sox baseball team in America

I said “attempted” because the current owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett are refusing to go and will fight the sale in court. Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton however believes the 300-million-pounds sale will go through.

Question is, “Why would anyone want to buy Liverpool now?”

Liverpool is over 200-million-pounds in debt! Add that to the sale price and NESV is paying over 500-million-pounds for a football club currently in the relegation zone. Now I am sure Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson will get the club out of trouble sooner or later but 500-million-pounds, plus a few more for new players; how long will it take for them to make a profit? Just look at Manchester United; they just reported a 83.64-million-pounds loss despite a 100-million-pounds profit!

That’s because Man Utd’s owners, the Glazer family, took a massive loan to buy over the club a few years ago and the 100-million-pounds profit was used to pay off the interest of the loan. If even a currently successful club like Man Utd can’t make a decent profit in the current climate, what chance does a club in the relegation zone do? So don’t be surprised if NEVS sell Liverpool for a profit once they get their hands on it. That’s seems the most logical decision to make.

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