‘Looked at’ - Formula One chief executive breaks silence amid Liverpool investment links

The chief executive of an American group linked with investing in Liverpool has admitted they have looked at purchasing Premier League clubs.

Fenway Sports Group (FSG) have owned the Reds since 2010. However, they made the decision last November to put Liverpool on the market and are seeking a partial sale - mooted to be between 10-15%.

Principal owner John Henry confirmed earlier this year that FSG had been in talks with potential investors. And one party who has been suggested and could look to become involved with the Reds is Liberty Media.

Liberty have owned Major League Baseball team the Atlanta Braves since 2007 - with the Georgia-based outfit winning the World Series in 2021.

However, it is the transformation of Formula One which the group are most renowned for. Since completing an $8 billion takeover from Bernie Eccleston in January 2017, the popularity of sport - particularly Stateside - has grown significantly. A big reason behind that is down to the Netflix docuseries Formula 1: Drive to Survive and three races per year now take place in America.

Speaking to the Walker Webcast, Liberty CEO Greg Maffei admitted there isn’t an asset that the group haven’t looked at investing in - including Premier League sides.

What’s been said

Maffei said: “I would dispute buying on the cheap. We like to buy for a fair price then hopefully build value.

“So look, a couple of thoughts. Credit to the teams at Formula One and the Braves because I believe we have the best management team in baseball creating both a great on-field product - Alex Anthopoulos, our general manager - at a reasonable price with a long-term future and young players who are well set-up on contracts. But also the [front house] team there - Derek Schiller, Mike Plant and Terry McGuirk the CEO have done a great job on the business side and built Truist Park and around that.

“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.”