The entrepreneur & sport
With Derby getting a massive point deduction under owner Mel Morris, Nigel Wray selling most of his stake in Saracens, Bernard Tapie dying and a podcast I listened to on disgraced financier Allan Stanford, today’s post is on the entrepreneur and sport.
These are less common with sovereign wealth funds and private equity funds – Ipswich Town’s new owners are a pension fund in Arizona.
Time was when there were owners whose clubs were their fiefdoms, like Bob Lord at Burnley, Jim Gregory at QPR and the recently-passed Bernard Tapie at Marseilles.
They were less common outside football, though Colin Graves who built up Costcutter and Rod Bromsgrove in pharmaceuticals were more than active in Yorkshire and Hampshire.
For many years Bernie Ecclestone ran Formula One.
Generally speaking it ends badly, though our own Alan Tanner won’t have a bad word said of Mohammed al Fayed at Fulham, nor Rex Mitchell of Matthew Benham at Brentford, nor Ivan Conway of Tony Bloom of Brighton.
Chelsea have enjoyed unparalleled success under Roman Abramovich.
However the criticism remains that the entrepreneur involved with the team he supports tends to lose his business compass.
The Stanford debacle is the worst example and recorded in a six-part podcast by Greg James.
Stanford, after his Texan gym business went bust, set up as a financier in first Montserrat and then Antigua.
This is easy to do as these islands dish out banking licences as some councils do Uber ones.
Stanford’s idea was a US$20 million “winner takes all” cricket match between Antigua and England.
He announced himself on the cricket stage by landing at Lords in a helicopter and then putting various cricketing wives on his knee.
The players earned $1m. Some immediately used the money to help their families, others invested with Stanford – as did golfer Henrik Stensen – and lost everything. Stanford finished in jail.
The presenter had the remarkable gift of hindsight, but I recall attending the Frank Worrell lecture when a Caribbean dignitary genuinely believed that Stanford would generate the revival of West Indian cricket
Probably the best sport for the entrepreneur is horse racing.
It’s astronomically expensive to acquire and train an thoroughbred but success can enhance your social profile.
For the last word I spoke to Bob Tickler.
He said he would never invest in a soccer club as the asset base of the ground and players is too hard to evaluate and income stream depends on being in the Premiership.
He also says he prefers low profile businessmen who stick to the business not social pages.
