Former USMNT player Taylor Twellman claims that Liverpool fans should be paying attention to Boston Red Sox moves
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FSG chief John W. Henry has received major criticism from Boston Red Sox fans.
FSG chief John W. Henry has received major criticism from Boston Red Sox fans.
(Image: Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)
Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group have already shown a willingness to commit serious money to attaining success this summer. Deals for Florian Wirtz, Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong will take spending to close on the £190m mark, with more potentially to come.
The reason for the spending is that Liverpool have largely kept their powder dry in recent times, with last summer’s additions of Federico Chiesa and Giorgi Marmadashvili accounting for £35m in guaranteed money. That added £7.5m in amortisation costs annually, but with departures taken into account last summer, the amortisation costs for 2023/24, which stood at around £114.5m, will be similar for 2024/25, with the book value of some players having been paid down another year, meaning the amortisation costs could actually decrease.
That, allied with wage bill flexibility through the exit of Trent Alexadnder-Arnold, additional funds from the sales of pure profit players such as Caiomhin Kelleher, and the greater sums from the Premier League, not to mention the hugely significant Champions League money, means that the funds are there for considerable strengthening that falls within the sustainable model that FSG have implemented for the last 15 years at Anfield.
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It has been a chaotic 10 days for FSG on both sides of the Atlantic. The signing of Wirtz for £116m, expected to be confirmed on Friday, marks a British transfer record, and the ambition being shown has been warmly welcomed by supporters, with FSG not always universally popular across the Liverpool supporter base when it comes to transfer spend.
In Boston, where FSG have owned the storied Boston Red Sox Major League Baseball franchise since 2002, delivering four World Series titles, the feeling towards the ownership right now is not as favourable.
Earlier this week, the Red Sox made the decision to trade their star man, Rafael Devers, a player who they tied to a $315.5m (£233.4m) 10-year deal last year, to the San Francisco Giants.
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It was a decision, as explained by FSG chief executive and CEO of the Red Sox, Sam Kennedy, that was made due to a lack of “alignment”, acknowledging that the deal would disappoint fans but was made with the belief the financial flexibility would allow them to achieve greater competitive success.
Earlier this week, former USA men’s national team player Taylor Twellman told the popular ‘It’s Called Soccer’ podcast that Liverpool fans should keep an eye on the developments occurring in Boston due to the perceived crossover between the two FSG-owned teams.
“I’m so intrigued by Fenway Sports Group,” said Twellman, when quizzed on the Wirtz deal.
“My first thought was ‘whoa, this is a record’. Then 72 hours later the Boston Red Sox trade their $285m left on his deal Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants.
“Boston Red Sox fans are now paying attention to what Liverpool are doing, and I’m telling you, Liverpool fans, you need to pay attention to what the Boston Red Sox are doing.
“They are in lockstep. One can’t do something without the other one helping, which tells you a lot about Fenway Sports Group. It’s intriguing to me that they go out and spend that money on Florian Wirtz.”
It is, however, a flawed narrative.
Liverpool and the Boston Red Sox have the same ownership group, but they operate as completely standalone businesses. They are under their own holding companies, they report independent financial results, and what they can spend is directly linked to the revenue that comes in.
Liverpool have had a banner year, and that financial strength will continue into next season. They have saleable assets and sitting out some windows has given them the opportunity to move on Wirtz and address other key areas, including both full-back spots.
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Operationally, baseball is entirely different. Revenues are heavily reliant on the broadcasting deal and the gameday revenue, with additional revenue arriving through post-season appearances, something the Red Sox have not been able to achieve in recent seasons.
They also have a luxury tax system in place, a soft salary cap where teams face a financial penalty for breaching it. Trading is part and parcel of the game, and the Devers trade was born from a frustration that the player would not play some positions on the field that the Red Sox had wanted him to. They lost a major player, but the view of the team’s baseball chief Craig Breslow is that it will enable funds to be reinvested into making the roster stronger overall.
That still doesn’t play well in Boston, and the optics aren’t great for FSG when they are spending record sums in Liverpool and ridding themselves of a $285m contract in Boston. In reality, there is no decision made at one team that has an impact at another. They are entirely separate, and while looking at operational approach across teams might be instructive as to how FSG operate as sports team owners, there is no robbing Peter to pay Paul. It doesn’t work like that.