Liverpool owners FSG and their growing number of big-name private investors command one of global sport’s most valuable portfolios. As a result, they know all of the industry’s movers and shakers.
John Henry, Tom Werner, Mike Gordon, Sam Kennedy and Billy Hogan are the biggest names at Liverpool and in the wider FSG empire. As the public face of the Boston investment firm at Anfield, they were the ones in the building for last Sunday’s Premier League title celebrations too.
But that contingent actually makes up only around 60 per cent of Fenway Sports Group’s capital base. There are dozens of other individuals and groups in the mix too.
In recent years, the private equity firms RedBird Capital and Arctos have joined the corporate structure. Together, their investments in FSG are worth over £1bn.
Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images
Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images
While those groups are owners-once-removed from Liverpool, fellow private equity firm Dynasty Equity is a direct shareholder in the club itself, albeit with just a three per cent stake.
The price Dynasty Equity paid in 2023 for that privilege? A whopping £127m, which values Liverpool at around £4.2bn.
The internal mechanics of FSG and to what extent each of these groups and individuals influence, say, Liverpool’s summer transfer budget isn’t known. At least, not in any great detail.
A diagram showing the ownership structure of Liverpool and FSG, encompassing John Henry, Mike Gordon, Tom Werner, Dynasty Equity, Arctos, RedBird Capital and other investors, with TBR Football logo
Liverpool ownership diagram Credit: Adam Williams/TBR Football/GRV Media
The buck stops with Michael Edwards when it comes to how FSG’s football budget is allocated, but the figures themselves are decided on the other side of the Atlantic.
However, the difference here between Liverpool and many of their Premier League rivals is that, despite having such a broad capital base, they are seldom called to provide funds. Why? Because Liverpool don’t spend what they don’t earn.
The exception was the £200m-plus that the owners gave the club in the form of interest-free loans to redevelop the Main Stand and Anfield Road Stand, the latter of which was finalised last summer.
Other than that, the only resources FSG have invested in Liverpool besides the initial takeover price are considerable man-hours and brain power.
As far as the transfer market and wage bill are concerned, Liverpool simply spend the money they make from broadcast, commercial and matchday income, which totalled a club-record £614m last year.
Chart showing Liverpool revenue over the years with projections for 2024-25 and 2025-26, with TBR Football logo
Liverpool revenue projections Credit: Adam Williams/TBR Football/GRV Media
The self-funding model works for Liverpool. Though it has at times frustrated supporters hungry for retail therapy via superstar signings, FSG have now delivered two Premier League titles, a Champions League, a Club World Cup, two FA Cups and three League Cups.
It’s the same model that could deliver Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez this summer after a season of prudence in the transfer market in 2024-25.
On the flipside, however, it means that Liverpool must relentlessly grow their revenue if they are to compete with clubs whose owners are willing to directly fund them.
Sometimes, that leads to developments which aren’t in the interest of fans or the club as a social institution in L4.
FSG lose executive to new Champions League rights broker – it’s one step closer to Liverpool matches overseas
The European Super League devised by John Henry in collaboration with Ed Woodward, Andrea Agnelli, Florentino Perez and other club boardroom behemoths wasn’t actually called the ‘European Super League’.
All the branding missed the ‘European’ part out entirely, which left the door open for clubs outside the continent to take part too. Crucially, it also allowed for the possibility of owners taking their teams for lucrative fixtures in the United States and other massive commercial growth markets.
Tom Werner, who is chairman of Liverpool as well as FSG’s other sports investments in the US, is keen on the idea. Given the sums on offer in pre-season tours in the States, it’s not hard to see why.
“I’m determined one day to have a Premier League game be played in New York City,” he told The Financial Times last summer.
“I even have the sort of crazy idea that there would be a day where we play one game in Tokyo, one game a few hours later in Los Angeles, one game a few hours later in Rio, one game a few hours later in Riyadh and make it sort of a day where football, where the Premier League, is celebrated.”
Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images
Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images
His views, John Henry immediately clarified, did not represent FSG’s official stance on competitive matches overseas. It’s an open secret within football finance, however, that Liverpool and their peers in the so-called ‘Big Six’ salivate at the thought of more matches in territories where fans are famously resistant to higher prices and the nakedly commercial ambitions of billionaire owners.
In March this year, one seemingly innocuous headline from the sports business press signposted the fact that Tom Werner will surely get his wish one day.
UEFA has appointed Relevant Sports to sell the global commercial rights for its club competitions, ditching rival agency TEAM Marketing after 30 years.
Significantly, Relevant want to move some Champions League fixtures outside Europe and UEFA’s decision to appoint them is seen as a concrete move in this direction.
The Champions League’s central revenue as it stands is £2bn, but many elite club owners think they can supercharge that pot by staging more matches in the US and beyond.
Now, Relevant Sports are launching Relevant Football Partners to manage the process.
As reported by Sport Business, they have made three new senior hires, one of whom has come from The PGA Tour, which is owned by FSG-led Strategic Sports Management.
Brian Oliver will become Relevant Football Partners chief commercial officer. He is joined by
So while FSG have lost an executive at one of their biggest investments, they have also perhaps gained an ally at Relevant Sports and their bid to take Champions League matches to the US.
Could the UK government block Tom Werner’s plans to play Liverpool matches overseas?
In either late 2025 or early 2026, the UK government is set to launch the new independent regulator for English football.
The exact remit of the regulator, which will be chaired by industry bigwig David Kogan, has not yet been finalised. The bill that is currently making its way through Parliament, however, outlines several important powers, including:
Implementing a strengthened Owners’ and Directors’ Test
Creating targeted financial regulations
Enforcing fan engagement standards and protecting club heritage (kit colours, badges etc)
Approving or blocking stadium moves or club relocations
Blocking clubs from joining breakaway competitions
That last point could be key in the context of the Super League. The company A22 Sports Management is still trying to revive the Super League, but their proposal (the so-called ‘Unify League’) would likely be blocked.
Whether the regulator would have the power to prevent Liverpool or any other English club from playing Champions League matches outside of Europe, however, is much more dubious.
FIFA rules stipulate that governments must not interfere with the business of national football associations. World football’s governing body is said to be looking at the regulator’s remit closely to ensure that it does not meet that threshold. For Tom Werner and his global ambitions for Liverpool, that bodes well.