Fenway Sports Group to Sell Major Sports Team… Could Liverpool Be Next?

Love them or hate them, Fenway Sports Group (FSG) are very good at what they do.

They acquire what they consider to be under-valued sports teams, invest (to a point) and then sell for a considerable profit once they have been able to instigate a marked improvement in fortunes.

It was revealed in December that FSG plan to sell the NHL franchise that they own, the Pittsburgh Penguins, to a consortium led by American entrepreneur David Hoffmann.

The price? A cool $1.7 billion (£1.27 billion).

It was back in 2021 that Fenway acquired the Penguins for £672 million, so even account for the money they have invested in the franchise, the group still walks away with a considerable profit on their ledger.

It’s a system of success they have used previously, suggesting that there’s little in the way of emotional attachment to any sports team that they buy… it’s all just business and numbers on a spreadsheet to them.

All of which makes you wonder… with Liverpool FC valued at around 10x higher than when FSG acquired the club in 2010, could John W. Henry and co be toying with the idea of selling the Reds in the near future?

Return On Investment

It’s perhaps a pipedream to expect an overseas consortium of investors to develop personal feelings for a football club they have purchased.

In fact, they would even go as far as to consider such a thing dangerous: emotion muddying the waters of sound business sense.

Liverpool have won Premier League titles and the Champions League in the Fenway era, but even so the group’s sale of the Pittsburgh Penguins suggests that even that success won’t stop them from selling up when the price is right.

As it stands, FSG owns the Reds and a controlling stake in Major League Baseball outfit the Boston Red Sox.

When they acquired the Red Sox in 2002, the Boston franchise hadn’t won the World Series – the MLB’s premier prize – in 84 years, which was the longest drought in the competition’s history.

Within two years of FSG stewardship, the Red Sox had won their first World Series in decades. Subsequently, they also won the championship in 2007, 2013 and 2018.

As well as the team itself, FSG also owns Fenway Park – one of the most iconic venues in baseball – and the Red Sox’s training facility. They paid £523 million for the Boston franchise’s ownership rights and facilities in 2001, which accounting for inflation would be around £990 million today.

According to Forbes, as of March 2025 the Red Sox had a market value of a handsome $4.8 billion – or £3.5 billion. Now that’s what you call return on investment.

Fenway have other interests in motor racing and golf, having funded the Boston Common team in the TGL.

The secret to good investing it to buy low, sell high. FSG did it with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and evidently they are in a position to make an eye-watering ten-figure profit on the Boston Red Sox when the moment comes.

Could they be tempted to bank a profit there, or perhaps sell Liverpool instead?

Is Liverpool FC Up For Sale?

It cost a cool £300 million for FSG to prise ownership of Liverpool away from Tom Hicks and George Gillett back in 2010.

If we put that through an inflation calculator, it works out at around £467 million today.

And yet, according to the latest market valuation, the club is worth an estimated £4.2 billion right now.

Even accounting for the millions that Henry and co have pumped into running the Reds, that is still a remarkable profit if they were to sell up today.

What was that line about buying low, selling high?

From a purely business perspective, it would make great sense for FSG to sell Liverpool right now. This is a football club that has enjoyed success on the pitch and on the spreadsheet too, but in sport you never know when the next downturn is coming.

The decision-makers at Fenway are evidently savvy operators, so – assuming they feel no emotional connection to Liverpool and can separate business logic from the tug on the heartstrings – it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Reds were sold in the near future.

Can you remember back in 2022 when FSG ‘invited’ investment in the club? They were planning to retain a controlling stake, but wanted external resources to help fund the running of the operation.

Since winning their fourth World Series, Fenway have significantly reduced their investment in the Boston Red Sox – so much so that their total salary spend is roughly mid-table in the MLB.

It would be a tragedy if they left Liverpool to fester in such a way given all the success they’ve shared….