\u201cFor now, he seems to have made that choice\u2014because he could have bought a team if he\u2019d wanted one,\u201d a person familiar with the owners\u2019 views of Bezos told Front Office Sports.<\/p>\n
Bezos, 62, is part of an investment group that acquired an approximately 30% to one-third stake in Liverpool football club in a deal announced Friday by the club\u2019s owner, the Boston-based Fenway Sports Group.<\/p>\n
The consortium is led by Amit Bhatia, the founder of investment firm AyBe Capital and the son-in-law of Lakshmi Mittal, the executive chairman of steel and mining giant ArcelorMittal. Bhatia is expected to be Liverpool\u2019s vice chairman and sit on the club\u2019s board.<\/p>\n
The club\u2019s expanded board will include two other members of Bhatia\u2019s investment group, Bryan Baum and Elaine Saverin, the wife of Facebook cofounder Eduardo Saverin. (The Saverin family office is part of the consortium.) Bezos will not have a seat on the Liverpool board. The group\u2019s investment reportedly is based on a valuation of about $5.9 billion for the Liverpool club.<\/p>\n
Bezos\u2019s participation in the Liverpool deal could be a signal of receptiveness to additional sports investments. Amazon Prime Video holds the NFL\u2019s broadcast package for Thursday night games.<\/p>\n
A Lull in NFL Sales?<\/p>\n
Industry analysts say it\u2019s not clear which NFL team will be sold next<\/a> after the owners approve the Seahawks deal. Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti has said he intends to eventually sell his team rather than passing it down to family members. But that\u2019s not imminent. Bisciotti, who turned 66 in April, said during a news conference in January that he\u2019d like to \u201cwin a couple\u201d more Super Bowl titles with the Ravens and then get out of ownership, ideally \u201cin the next 10 years,\u201d around age 75. And sources say they don\u2019t envision any other team being put up for sale in the next few years, barring unforeseen complications forcing an owner to sell.<\/p>\n \u201cHe ultimately wasn\u2019t interested in the Commanders,\u201d a high-ranking official with one NFL team told FOS about Bezos. \u201cHe wasn\u2019t interested in Seattle. I just don\u2019t know what other team is going to be for sale, other than Baltimore with Bisciotti. The private equity involvement has taken all the pressure off families for their estate planning.\u201d<\/p>\n Bezos announced in 2023 that he was moving from Seattle, where he\u2019d lived since 1994, to Miami. That prompted some speculation within the NFL that Bezos eventually could make an attempt to buy the Dolphins from owner Stephen Ross. But it hasn\u2019t happened to this point.<\/p>\n Ross, 86, told Bloomberg in January<\/a> that he\u2019d been offered close to $15 billion to sell the team but declined, with plans to keep the franchise in his family. (Ross\u2019s son-in-law Daniel Sillman is CEO of Ross Sports & Entertainment.) Ross has sold minority stakes in the Dolphins and related assets.<\/p>\n \u201cIf that team had come to sale, I think [Bezos] and Ken Griffin would go toe to toe for it,\u201d the high-ranking NFL team official told FOS. \u201cBut I don\u2019t think it\u2019s ever going to happen. I think that will stay in that family.\u201d<\/p>\n Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images<\/p>\n Griffin, the founder and CEO of Miami-based hedge fund firm Citadel LLC, reportedly had previous discussions about a potential minority ownership stake in the Dolphins without completing a deal with Ross.<\/p>\n Bezos was not available to comment. Amazon did not respond to a request made before the Liverpool deal was announced to comment on Bezos\u2019s sports investment activities.<\/p>\n \u201cHe Could Have Outbid Everyone. \u2026 Does He Want To?\u201d<\/p>\n NFL owners have said they\u2019d love to have Bezos in the league.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d carry him piggyback to get him to the NFL,\u201d Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told Sports Illustrated<\/a> in 2018.<\/p>\n Patriots owner Robert Kraft told The Washington Post<\/a> in 2019: \u201cI\u2019m sure that eventually it would be in everyone\u2019s best interests if someone that\u2019s as community-oriented as him gets involved in the Seattle situation.\u201d<\/p>\n The Seahawks have been owned by Allen\u2019s estate since the Microsoft cofounder\u2019s death in 2018. Allen directed that the Seahawks and the NBA team that he owned, the Trail Blazers, be sold and the proceeds donated to charity. But there has been no indication Bezos was ever involved in the bidding process that led to the sale agreement with the Khosla group. The owners are scheduled to meet Aug. 26 in Atlanta to potentially take a ratification vote.<\/p>\n In 2023, Bezos hired Allen & Co., a New York\u2013based firm that is prominent in transactions involving pro sports franchises, to evaluate a possible bid for the Commanders, two people familiar with the situation told the Post then. Members of other groups seemed resigned to the possibility of Bezos entering the process and acquiring the team by outbidding all competitors.<\/p>\n But Bezos never bid, clearing the way for Harris\u2019s group to purchase the franchise from Snyder. Some NFL owners believed at the time that Bezos\u2019s involvement may have pushed the sale price above $7 billion.<\/p>\n Allen & Co., which also was hired by the Paul Allen estate to oversee the Seahawks sale process, declined to comment this week about Bezos.<\/p>\n Bezos, who owns aerospace company Blue Origin and the Post, has an estimated net worth of $272.4 billion, according to Forbes. That makes him the world\u2019s third-wealthiest person behind Elon Musk and Larry Page, by the current Forbes estimates.<\/p>\n The Liverpool deal indicates Bezos is open to making a minority investment in a major pro sports franchise, at least under certain circumstances.<\/p>\n \u201cIt absolutely invites those kinds of approaches\u201d to Bezos in the future about minority investments in teams, the person with knowledge of the owners\u2019 views said. \u201cUsually things like this happen because of relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n Mittal\u2019s son, Aditya Mittal, was part of a bidding group for the Seahawks that was among the two finalists, FOS reported<\/a>, before the Allen estate struck its deal with the Khosla group. He is the CEO of ArcelorMittal and a minority owner of the NBA\u2019s Celtics. Even with that sports-based connection to the Mittal family through the Liverpool investment, there has been no indication of Bezos being involved with the Seahawks bidding or potential ownership.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2022-09-16T020100Z_1891285063_MT1USATODAY19051060_RTRMADP_3_NFL-LOS-ANGELES-CHARGERS-AT-KANSAS-CITY-.jpeg\")
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