Insight |
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So who owns what and what did they pay? Manchester United( Glazers / Jim Ratcliffe) – bought for £ 790m(£ 265m cash) in 2005. Ratcliffe paid £ 1.3bn for a 27.7 % stake in 2025. The Glazers also own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Chelsea( Clearlake Capital / Todd Boehly) – the most controversial deal, and the biggest cash transaction, at £ 4.25bn – of which £ 2.5bn remains tied up in courts with previous owner Roman Abramovich. The owners also own the LA Dodgers and NBA Lakers. Liverpool( Fenway Sports Group) – bought for just £ 300m in 2010, with minimal added debt – notably early, before prices rose. Fenway also owns the Boston Red Sox. Arsenal( Stan Kroenke) – a personal acquisition via share purchases |
from 2007-18, costing around £ 1bn. He also owns the NFL LA Rams and NBA Denver Nuggets( full disclosure – I am Arsenal ' s official historian). Aston Villa( V Sports / Wes Edens) – around £ 116m invested since 2018. Edens also owns the NBA Milwaukee Bucks. Bournemouth( Bill Foley) – paid circa £ 120m in 2022, probably the most successful investment, with Bournemouth finishing 6th in 2026. Foley also owns the NHL Vegas Golden Knights. Crystal Palace( Eagle Football Holdings) – also own the NBA Philadelphia 76ers, NHL NJ Devils and Lyon FC. Everton – Dan Friedkin – who also owns AS Roma. Fulham – Shahid Khan – who also owns the NFL Jacksonville Jaguars. |
Above: Premier League soccer has been steadily gaining popularity in the US |
Ipswich( Gamechanger 20 / ORG Portfolio Management) – which owns some 90 %; a 40 % stake was sold to Bright Path Sports Partners for £ 105m in 2024. Leeds United( the York family and Paraag Marathe) – who also owns the NFL San Francisco 49ers.
Let ' s look at the recent buyers of the big trade show companies to make comparisons Providence – the most active player in trade shows, managing an estimated $ 24bn. It has owned George Little, Clarion, CloserStill and Hyve. In April / May 2026 it generated $ 3.6bn selling both CloserStill and Hyve – then, through a different fund, effectively bought CloserStill straight back. Apollo – now manages over $ 1.03trn, and in May 2026 acquired Emerald and
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42 Issue 4 2026 |
www. exhibitionworld. co. uk |