Soccer Props: Who Will Be The Next Owners of Manchester United and Liverpool

Two of the biggest clubs in the English Premier League (EPL), Liverpool FC, and Manchester United FC, are potentially up for sale and BetUS has next owner odds for both the Reds and the Red Devils.

The Glazer family, worth an estimated $4.7 billion, has owned Manchester United for 17 years now and they announced last week that they have instructed investment bankers to shop the world famous soccer club.

For now, the Manchester United owner is the Glazers, with American businessman Malcolm Glazer the primary man involved. Glazer was the president and CEO of First Allied Company and the Glazers are also the owners of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Apparently, the Glazers would consider an auction for the club, which is currently the third most valuable club in professional soccer.

No sale, a partial sale, a partnership, and a total sale of MUFC all seem to be potential outcomes. Since owning the club, Red Devils fans have held regular fan protests calling for the glazers to sell the club after being used to dominating the Premiership in the 1990s.

In the 2021 EPL season, Manchester United finished in a disappointing 6th place, missing out on a lucrative UEFA Champions League appearance and settling for Europa League play as the Red Devils ended with their lowest point total in the Premier League era.

There will be a long list of those who want to own the famous club, but few with the resources to make it reality. https://t.co/yKP3kVqnYw

— Forbes (@Forbes) November 23, 2022

Liverpool FC Also Up For Sale

Liverpool FC is owned by Fenway Sports Group (FSG) have indicated they have been in talks with consortiums from both Qatari and Saudi Arabia for a potential sale of the Reds, currently in 6th place in the EPL at 5-4-4.

FSG also owns the Boston Red Sox in the MLB and the Pittsburgh Penguins in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Both potential Liverpool suitors are not state-owned but private companies. The deal could be worth as much as $3 billion. But BetUS, one of the leading soccer betting sites, has made RedBird Capital the favorites to buy LFC at +350 betting odds (7/2 fractional).

The next Liverpool owner odds see Sir Martin Broughton’s Group as the second favorites to purchase the club at +450 followed by Al-Bassam/Ritchie Group (5/1), who were in talks to buy EPL club Chelsea FC earlier this year from Roman Abramovich.

And be aware this MUFC move is more of an invitation to potential suitors and that there is no guarantee the Red Devils will be sold. Like Chelsea did, MUFC appointed the New York City-based The Raine Group to manage this process, maybe fishing for a US investor.

Here are the odds for the potential buyers of Manchester United and Liverpool along with some microanalysis of three suitors for each and why they might or might not be a good fit. We will also offer up a prediction and pick for who will buy both historic EPL clubs.

Next Liverpool FC Owner Odds

Instead of cash, LeBron James accepted a 2% stake in Liverpool FC as part of a 2011 business deal with Fenway Sports Group.

Originally valued at $6.5M, the investment is now worth ~$44M – almost 7x more.

Lebron is one of the greatest athlete investors of our generation. pic.twitter.com/32CahosAUc

— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) August 16, 2020

RedBird Capital Group +350

US investment group, RedBird Capital Partners bought Italian Serie A club AC Milan earlier this year for €1.2 billion. So, could RedBird be adding another famous soccer club to their portfolio? Whoever buys the club will have to help rebuild the aging Old Trafford.

RedBird Capital Partners and headman Gerry Cardinale are great candidates to fully take over Liverpool as his company already has an 11% share in the soccer club from the same famous English city that gave us The Beatles.

With Fenway Sports Group (FSG) saying they want to sell, Cardinale said he is interested in upping his share. NBA superstar LeBron James also owns a stake (2%) in the Reds and he and his LeBron James Group is priced at 9/1 odds, but don‘t expect LBJ to buy LFC.

Besides owning the aforementioned AC Milan, RedBird Capital also owns Toulouse in France’s Ligue 1, so maybe adding a third major European club would be a perfect fit?

Sir Martin Broughton’s Group +450

The Deputy Chairman of International Airlines Group, Sir Martin Broughton was once the Chairman of Liverpool, so this British billionaire already knows the club well. And he definitely has the resources to buy LFC out from the Fenway Sports Group.

Broughton also brokered the sale of the Liverpool club to FSG back in 2010 and he was also interested in buying Chelsea earlier this year. So, he is salivating and this is a team that recently won the UEFA Champions League and are in better form this decade than MUFC.

Al-Bassam/Ritchie Group +500

The Al-Bassam Group are serious candidates to make a bid for Liverpool and Centricus co-founder Nizam Al-Bassam and CEO Garth Ritchie were also one of the serious candidates looking to buy Chelsea FC from Russian oil tycoon Roman Abramovich.

After 12 years of ownership, FSG’s John Henry and club CEO Tom Werner are now keen on selling the Reds, with a hopeful price tag of up to $5 billion for the famous Merseyside club coached by Jürgen Klopp and featuring Mo Salah, Alisson Becker and Virgil van Dijk.

Next Manchester United FC Owner Odds

🚨 BREAKING 🚨

Manchester United owners to explore sale as Glazers seek new investment pic.twitter.com/z7PPVbKEu7

— Football Daily (@footballdaily) November 22, 2022

Tim Cook +300

Apple CEO Tim Cook reportedly wants to buy Manchester United for $6.9 billion but the Glazer family are looking for a $9.9 billion bid. A rival in the chip manufacturing business to Apple, Qualcomm Snapdragon, recently became a sponsor of Manchester United.

The world’s richest man, Elon Musk (7/1 to be next Manchester United owner), has had some issues with Cook lately, but with his new big-ticket toy purchase (Twitter), it’s hard to see Musk being serious about beating Cook to the punch and buying the Red Devils.

Musk really doesn’t seem like he cares about sports much either while Cook has shown some interest.

Sir Jim Arthur Ratcliffe +450

The richest man in the United Kingdom is Sir Jim Arthur Ratcliffe, CEO of the Ineos chemical group. The Bloomberg Billionaire Index put his net worth at $28.2 billion in April, making him the 55th richest person in the world. Brother can you spare a dime?

Ratcliffe, who officially changed his tax residence to Monaco from Hampshire, England to save $4 billion, might have the money, but does he really want to try to buy MUFC? Yes. he will be a serious player in this potential sale.

Like others in the next manager props market, Ratcliffe also was interested in buying Chelsea. In the most expensive transaction in team sports to date American billionaire Todd Beohly (and a consortium of investors), bought CFC for a cool $5.25 billion.

Dubai International Capital +500

The Middle East already owns several soccer clubs (Newcastle United, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain) and Dubai International Capital may be making a surprise $10,6 billion offer to buy the club from the Glazer family.

Significantly more than the reported offer Apple’s Cook made, this makes more sense with the recent trend of EPL clubs seeking to be purchased by oil money. Red Devils players recently had a training camp and masters match in Dubai, so this seems like the best fit.