Chelsea reveals Todd Boehly’s “hundreds of millions of dollars” as their investment strategy becomes apparent.
Todd Boehly, a co-owner of Chelsea, was questioned about the potential worth of the team’s women.
Chelsea owner Todd Boehly (Image: 2024 Marc Atkins)
Todd Boehly, a co-owner of Chelsea, thinks the team’s women’s division will be an extremely valuable asset in the years to come.
Since purchasing the team two years ago, Boehly and Clearlake Capital have invested more money, but so far their efforts have not paid off. The club has seen three managers fired, over £1 billion in transfers, and two seasons without Champions League football following another turbulent campaign.
The Chelsea owners and Mauricio Pochettino agreed to a “mutual” parting on Tuesday, making the Argentine manager the most recent to pay the price.
The Boehly/Clearlake investment thesis heavily relies on on-pitch success, and since May 2022, they would have anticipated more of the same. However, the club is playing a longer game, with plans to renovate Stamford Bridge and expand the club’s brand in the US during a critical period of “soccer” growth on both sides of the Atlantic in the run-up to the country’s 2026 World Cup.
The state of women’s football in the US is beginning to set the standard for the sport on a larger scale. Investors are beginning to recognize the growth potential in women’s football as well as other professional women’s sports, which have been drawing in fresh money.
The NWSL, the top division of professional women’s football in the United States, has seen a sharp increase in team valuations. Michele Kang paid $35 million for the Washington Spirit in 2022, while the San Diego Wave paid $113 million earlier this year. The most well-known NWSL team worldwide, Angel City FC, is presently for sale. For a team that was established only three years ago, the asking price is said to be in the neighborhood of $200 million. To put that into perspective, according to analysis from US sports business website Sportico, a $200 million (£157 million) sale would make it more valuable than five Premier League teams this season: Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth, Brentford, Luton Town, and Sheffield United.
Chelsea received two expressions of interest in investing in the women’s team, which the Evening Standard reported was valued at £150 million by the owners. Boehly and Clearlake were reportedly considering selling a portion of the team’s equity to raise money for infrastructure improvements surrounding the women’s team, including a move away from its current home at Kingsmeadow.
Speaking last week at the Qatar Economic Forum, Boehly expressed his opinion that the value of the Chelsea women’s team would soar in the upcoming years.
Boehly stated, “We firmly believe that the Chelsea women’s team is among the best in the world and will be valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars.”
“Sponsors are beginning to realize that fact and that it is beneficial to their brand to jump on board now.”
Under the departing Emma Hayes, Chelsea’s women’s team won the WSL this past season and advanced to the UEFA Women’s Champions League final before losing to Barcelona over two legs.
