Jordan Gardner, a stakeholder of Swansea City, has been on a recent edition of The Athletic’s Business of Sport to talk about American investment in football, following Burnley becoming the latest Premier League club to be taken over by a US firm.
The Clarets were bought by ALK Capital, and this led to a wider question on the future of Americans investing money in Premier League clubs.
Host Mark Chapman asked if the days of the Glazer family and Stan Kroenke were over and Gardner dismissed that suggestion and also claimed that the San Francisco 49ers were going to increase their stake in Leeds United.
He said: “I don’t think so. I mean, you have the 49ers guys at Leeds, and they are increasing their equity stake at Leeds.
“So, I don’t necessarily think it’s gone; I do think a lot of those investment groups, if they’re looking at European football, are becoming more sophisticated – they’re looking at other markets; they’re seeing opportunities in Spain, France, Italy. So I think that next batch might not just be UK-focused.”
Do you think this will happen?
Yes, it should do
No, it won't happen
TIF Thoughts on this information…
The NFL franchise initially bought a stake in the Whites in 2018, and there has been talk quite recently that they were going to increase that stake by 15%.
So, if what Gardner says is correct, it looks like they are seriously interested in doing it, which could boost the Whites’ finances and will increase the value of the club.
Leeds spent just under £100m in the last transfer window, so you would think that any financial boost from anywhere could help them.
Certainly, we would like to see this happen and we will be watching on with interest to see if the San Francisco 49ers do increase their stake.