When Chelsea FC is finally sold in the coming weeks, it is expected to fetch the highest price ever paid for a sports team.
The deadline for bids passed over the weekend, after current owner Roman Abramovich put the club up for sale before being sanctioned by the UK government for his alleged close ties to Russia and president Vladimir Putin, who ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February.
Concerns had been expressed that the optics of doing business with the oligarch would deter certain buyers, and that Abramovich’s £4 billion valuation was unlikely to be met with the quick sale required while the asset was frozen.
However, as many as 20 bidders are thought to have submitted bids for the club, and according to The Athletic, some suitors will even raise their offers to £3bn or even £4bn, making it the most expensive sports team purchase in history.
That sum would easily surpass the current record: the $3.35 billion (£2.5 billion) paid by Joseph Tsai in 2019 to purchase the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets and their home arena.
Despite Friday’s deadline, bids for the club continued to arrive over the weekend, according to the report, though those are not considered viable options.
At this point, the Ricketts family, owners of the Chicago Cubs, and a consortium led by LA Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly are thought to be the frontrunners. Nick Candy, a British billionaire and Chelsea fan, has also confirmed a bid with a consortium.
The transaction is being handled by New York-based merchant bank Raine Group, which will attempt to narrow the bidders to three or four by the end of this week before encouraging improved offers in order to close the deal by mid-April.
