Todd Boehly ‘the best we can hope for’ to not ‘disappear back into the pack’ — report

It was just ten days ago — though it feels like a lifetime ago — that Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss became the first to publicly acknowledge an intention to buy Chelsea Football Club. His consortium remain the front-runners, though with the American businessman Todd Boehly now the face and voice of the operation instead, which is probably for the better.

Boehly, who already tried to buy Chelsea in 2019 (and Spurs in 2018), probably didn’t need a third invitation to try to make this long-standing Premier League-investment goal of his a reality. And as a profile in the Telegraph points out, his track record as a part-owner at the LA Dodgers (since 2012), LA Sparks (since 2014), who won the 2020 MLB and 2016 WNBA championships, respectively, as well as the LA Lakers (since 2021), make him perhaps the “best we can hope for” if we are to not “disappear back into the pack” with Abramovich’s monies gone.

In addition to keeping the team competitive and maintaining the winning culture established over the past two decades, for both the men’s and the women’s teams, Boehly’s group is apparently also willing to propose a stadium redevelopment plan, with the third member of the consortium, Spurs fan and property developer Jonathan Goldstein expected to be “instrumental” in that regard, as Sky News add. Additional investors and wealthy associates may also be added to the group, to help with funding of the reported £2-2.5b bid.

Boehly’s intentions are of course not entirely altruistic — no new owner’s will be — but he sees a still-massive untapped market for the Premier League, especially in the US, which would presumably help fund the sporting pursuits in the SW6 as well.

“You have a media market that’s just really developing. One of the great things the Premier League has is that it’s on a Saturday morning in America. So you have an uncongested time slot that is now fully dominated by the Premier League. NBC has done an amazing job bringing that content.

“When I was growing up [...] certainly I didn’t know about Man United, I didn’t know about Chelsea, I didn’t know about Tottenham. Kids these days are fully aware of what’s the best and the Premier League is the best. I continue to believe there is global opportunity for the best clubs.”

-Todd Boehly, 2019; source: Bloomberg via Telegraph

If we are to remain one of these best clubs globally, this is the sort of ownership we will probably need.

Here are a couple more interesting videos from Boehly speaking at various engagements about his emphasis on building winning teams and keeping the fans front and center.

Certainly good words, and with a track record to back them up.