Remember Todd Boehly? There was a time when Chelsea’s chairman and co-owner was an almost omnipresent figure in English football. Not only did Chelsea spend a record $1 billion in transfer money trying to rewrite their accounting principles, but Citizen Todd was more than happy to tell the world about his exciting plans for the Premier League.
It hasn’t disappeared completely. Wearing a baseball cap and dressed against the cold, he attended Chelsea’s match against Brighton in early December, but it has been some time since the football public heard from him. Club politics, wider football politics and perhaps most of all Chelsea’s rather embarrassing decline have all served to diminish the need for the Marylander to stand out in the way he has quickly made a name for himself.
In the summer of 2022, Boehly was the public face of an ownership group that included Clearlake Capital, Mark Walter and Hansjörg Wyss, but these days it is Clearlake co-founder Behdad Eghbali who has become the most prominent and visible member of the club hierarchy. effective presence. This season, Eghbali has attempted to enter the locker room after games last season, when Boehly was widely criticized for such visits and were seen as evidence that someone did not know his place and was out of line.
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As Boehly publicly championed the virtues of the All-Star North-South game, relegation playoff series and multi-club models, there was a sense that he was speaking out loud on behalf of American owners.
State ownership is not a new phenomenon in English football, but Boehly’s petulance and unapologetic, sweaty capitalism were still something new to the mostly secretive world of suits and boots owned by the Premier League. “Ultimately, I hope the Premier League will learn some lessons from American sports,” Boehly said at the Salt conference in September 2022, where he has quickly built his reputation as the polar opposite of a quiet revolutionary.
Premier League owners are often seen and unheard; His rare press releases are limited to club statements. In a media environment where essential information is conveyed to journalists through off-the-record briefings, there is little or no obligation for a boss to take the lead, as is common in the United States. Roman Abramovich hasn’t said anything publicly and the likes of Tottenham’s Daniel Levy aren’t exactly outgoing. Public speaking is done by the manager; It’s relatively rare for even an athletic director to be on the record, as is customary in America.
If Everton’s proposed and much-delayed takeover by 777 Partners goes through, American ownership would represent half of the 20 Premier League clubs. Although this group does not operate as a faction, their influence has been exerted by the likes of Abramovich-era Chelsea and the Gulf state’s Manchester City and Newcastle by tightening financial regulations to prevent companies from unlimited spending.
This influence is exercised behind closed doors. Boehly’s most evocative blustering memories of Tom Hicks and George Gillett arriving at Liverpool as strays in 2007 have become much talked about, falling out with each other and then driving the club to the brink of bankruptcy in 2010. The Fenway Sports Group, which replaced Hicks and Gillett, under John Henry, followed the pattern of speaking only when absolutely necessary.
Many American owners, including Sunderland’s Ellis Short and Aston Villa’s Randy Lerner, arrived with the hope that the Premier League could become a no-lose cartel, with the NFL’s owners’ club. If only narrow-minded British and European minds could think like American business minds. Boehly has expressed his thoughts publicly, both to his credit and detriment, but a significant amount of time has now passed since he did so; Chelsea’s management communiqués have reverted to the standard business-speak language of their peers.
He also took up his post with unprecedented zeal. Even at Chelsea, which was taken over by Abramovich in 2003, there was shock and awe at the spending that brought English football the kind of spending hitherto only undertaken by Spain and Italy’s richest clubs. However, there was a sticking point in the deals Chelsea made, particularly the length of contracts given to newcomers.
Transfers like Mykhailo Mudryk and Enzo Fernández may cost $111 million and $136 million, but their contracts are spread over eight years. Depreciation, the accounting principle that allows wages to be spread over the length of contracts, has been extremely relaxed. This allowed Chelsea to reduce their annual expenditure under financial fair play (FFP), profit and sustainability rules. Boehly appeared to buck the system by employing the kind of buy-now, pay-later policy made most infamous by Shohei Ohtani’s $700 million arrival to the LA Dodgers, the MLB club that coincidentally is 20% owned by Boehly.
However, flexible depreciation will not last for very long, with UEFA and the Premier League taking steps to ensure maximum wages are distributed across accounts in the five-year contract.
Meanwhile, such a recruitment policy and low wage structure, which cost fans favorite Mason Mount and most likely Christian Pulisic, has not been proven by success on the pitch. Having just won the 2021 Champions League, it was a disaster for Graham Potter, who was open to a more holistic, statistics-based approach. Potter, who was sacked in April 2023, lasted just seven months in charge and Mauricio Pochettino, the centrist option between his two predecessors, looked no less bemused. The scenes of jubilant celebrations following the Carabao Cup win against Newcastle on December 19 were reflective of a club starved for success since winning the Champions League and Club World Cup.
Inheriting the European champions was by no means the only legacy of the previous ownership. Peeling back the layers of Abramovich’s financial structure revealed irregular payments and practices and led to an $11 million settlement with UEFA for historic rule-breaking; But without any statute of limitations, the Premier League investigation is likely to create bigger problems. Given Everton’s recent 10-point penalty for irregularities, sporting sanctions appear to be on the horizon. The new owners’ admission that “incomplete financial information” was provided to football authorities between 2012 and 2019 could help alleviate the situation but would not offer full amnesty.
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Abramovich’s legacy creates further problems when it comes to his fan base, where the Russian who unseated him can do little wrong despite his ties to Vladimir Putin. Abramovich was helpful to fans, paying for travel to and from away games, something the new regime angrily abolished in August. Chelsea’s decision to pay for fans’ travel to Wolverhampton on Christmas Eve served as a partial reconciliation. Meanwhile, Club Chelsea, a premium package that allows fans to sit luxuriously above players and managers, has been dismissed as an attempt to commercialise/Americanise Stamford Bridge, a beloved but aging stadium with an uncertain future.
Boehly may continue to be the name mentioned in vain during Chelsea’s campaign, but the growing influence of Santa Monica-based Iranian Eghbali suggests the president’s role is becoming less prominent. Someone more interested in the social side of the sporting world, Boehly continues to lead the way when representing the club at meetings and business development trips with other Premier League clubs and associations. But Chelsea’s ownership represents a much greater partnership than was suggested in the early days when Boehly unilaterally declared himself interim sporting director.
Can two-headed leadership be successful? There are suggestions that the pair may not share quite the same vision for Chelsea’s future, and given the heavy spending and failed accounting policy that has yet to deliver, an impending power struggle is not thought to be impossible. The January transfer window, with Pochettino expressing the need for more players, will likely be instructive as to where the power and Boehly lie.