In his capacity as a Columnist for California Sports Lawyer®, Founder Jeremy Evans has written a column about sports growing power player, Todd Boehly, owner with the Dodgers, Lakers, Sparks, and prospectively with Chelsea.
You can read the full column below.
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Todd Boehly seems to be making all the right investments. Ownership group of the Los Angeles Dodgers (MLB), Lakers (NBA), Sparks (WNBA), Cloud9, and DraftKings. Bidding to become the owner of Chelsea in the Premier League. Plus a $198 million dollar investment in Viral Nation, the influencer, name, image, and likeness company. Boehly is planting all the necessary seeds for success: multiple franchise ownership with a pulse on where the industry growing with companies that provide avenues for athletes to express their brands and highlight others.
Boehly’s investment in Chelsea is timely not only for the upcoming highlight of international soccer that the World Cup will provided in Qatar for the summer of 2022, which is set to be the most expensive of all time in terms of investment by a host, but also as FIFA has launched FIFA+. According to The Hollywood Reporter, “FIFA+ [is] a free, ad-funded platform . . . will encompass live soccer games from domestic leagues around the world, plus archive clips and games, original content in the form of documentaries and a match center for results and stats.” The platform will not stream World Cup matches.
With particular focus on the Women’s World Cup in 2023 in Australia and New Zealand, FIFA+ will be used for original programming to grow the game of soccer in the United States and abroad. With Boehly’s WNBA investment with the Sparks, it is of note that viewership is up over 40% across the league for the 2021-2022 season compared to the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 seasons.
Boehly is also making his mark in Hollywood, currently serving as interim CEO of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Boehly owns MRC, a film and music production company, with ownership stakes in Billboard, Rolling Stone, The Hollywood Reporter, and Variety. Boehly also led the Dodgers efforts to create SportsNet LA, the all-Dodgers channel as part of the Time Warner Cable deal for $8.35 billion over 25 years.
Of course, Boehly is a former Guggenheim partner, which is the ownership group of the Dodgers and includes controlling partner Mark Walter, NBA legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Hollywood executive, LAFC and Golden State Warriors owner, and UCLA professor Peter Guber, former Atlanta Braves baseball executive Stan Kasten, and Guggenheim executive Bobby Patton. Prior to Boehly’s public pursuit of Chelsea, which Mark Walter has also joined in the pursuit of purchasing the franchise, Boehly was known in business investment circles. He is now becoming a more well-known name in sports.
With investments and cooperation across multiple leagues, sports, and industries, Boehly is in a prime position. Should Boehly win the Chelsea bid ($4 billion sale price, 2022) he would join a select group of American sports team owners that have investments on home soil and across the pond. Boehly would be only the second MLB owner with ownership in the Premier League joining John Henry and Tom Werner with Fenway Sports Group and their ownership of Liverpool (sold for $393 million, 2010).
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About Jeremy M. Evans:
Jeremy M. Evans is the Chief Entrepreneur Officer, Founder & Managing Attorney at California Sports Lawyer®, representing entertainment, media, and sports clientele in contractual, intellectual property, and dealmaking matters. Evans is an award-winning attorney and industry leader based in Los Angeles. He can be reached at Jeremy@CSLlegal.com. www.CSLlegal.com.
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