A Bezos bounce?

Jeff Bezos knows a thing or two about making money, right? So when the world’s second richest person decides a Premier League club is a good bet, you can see why it might encourage others to think about following suit.

That’s the rationale among plenty of English top-flight clubs and their advisors, The Turnover hears, as current owners test the waters for a Bezos bounce in valuations following his minority investment in Liverpool a couple of months ago.

The latest to do it are Crystal Palace, who City AM revealed have been valued at £900m and have hired sport’s bankers du jour, the Raine Group, to field interest in a possible sale or investment. Sources outside of the club say the former, those inside say the latter.

It’s a punchy number – more than double the price established last year when Woody Johnson bought fellow American John Textor’s 43 per cent stake – so perhaps it’s little surprise that it is understood there have been few nibbles so far. One to watch.

Welcome to The Turnover, a weekly newsletter on the business of sport from City AM. It’s Frank here, fresh from pressing the flesh – possibly with some of you, dear readers – at this week’s industry shindigs at Stamford Bridge and Fulham.

It’s not just politicos suffering from conference fatigue; the sport industry has been out in force in London this week for Leaders Week and Sportico summits, where The Turnover can report the topic on everyone’s lips remains Manchester City.

With PM Andy Burnham entangled in the issue now, it was intriguing to learn that a senior City Football Group figure attended Labour conference days after the verdict dropped. Chris Anderson told City AM he was there in a personal capacity and not on club business.

At Leaders, Leeds United chairman Paraag Marathe floated introducing AI-driven dynamic ticket pricing. The move could increase revenue (natch) but also reward loyal fans, which should at least placate proudly frugal Yorkshire folk. Matt has more here.

Nottingham Forest’s plan to increase takings at the City Ground is more traditional: make it bigger. The catch? It’s set to leave local residents out of pocket from parking permits required as part of the expansion, reports Sam Cunningham in his Between the Lines column.

What is going on with NBA Europe? With a year to go until its slated launch, questions still abound, but we do at least have some welcome clarity on what the proposed competition will look like. Answer: the Champions League.

A prospective London NBA franchise is among those looking to build in the capital, so Matt took a forensic look at the most eligible sites for new sports facilities, which could also include a new Chelsea stadium. Read it here.

Sports media is booming, with Gary Neville taking his Overlap show daily as he looks to “build the world’s leading non-live football media platform”. Challenger sport and music station Track Radio is raising a further £3m, meanwhile, for the next phase of its launch.

Here’s an interesting dichotomy: YouTube is awash with free live sports but the BBC is shedding rights hand over fist. So why doesn’t the Beeb take the most relevant streams for fulfilling its public service mandate, asks Ed Warner. 

LIV Golf fallout latest: funding has been secured from BC Partners with a view to emerging from bankruptcy, while founding funder PIF insists it remains open to investing in sports properties despite its retreat in golf, tennis and football.

ICYMI section: Jill Scott will voice a new Peppa Pig character as part of a Lionesses-Hasbro tie-up that unites the distinctively-voiced on-screen ubiquity with Peppa Pig; Sunderland’s CEO has abruptly departed; the World Cup has given the Premier League a US broadcast boost; and 2036 Olympics bidders include Ahmedabad, Doha and Munich.

There’s never a quiet week in the business of sport but The Turnover is here to make sure your access-all-areas lanyard has been printed and the free coffee doesn’t run out. Have a great weekend.

Crystal Palace’s owners have valued the club at £900m and hired the Raine Group to field interest in investment or a possible sale, multiple sources have told City AM.

The £900m figure is more than double the valuation at which Woody Johnson acquired 43 per cent of the south London club a little over a year ago, for a reported £190m.

Palace declined to comment but have made no secret of the fact that investment is required to complete their Selhurst Park expansion. Sources close to the 2025 FA Cup winners insist that investment, not a sale, is their priority.

A senior City Football Group official who attended the Labour party conference days after Manchester City were found guilty of over 100 Premier League charges has told City AM he was there in a personal capacity. 

Chris Anderson, head of regulatory affairs at Manchester City parent company City Football Group, was among the delegates in Liverpool for the four-day conference, which began less than 48 hours after news of the guilty verdict emerged.

It comes amid close scrutiny of the relationship between Andy Burnham’s government and CFG’s Abu Dhabi owners, after the Prime Minister said he would be concerned if punishment of Manchester City caused them to sell up. 

Leeds United could introduce AI-powered dynamic ticket pricing to increase revenue at the Premier League club, its chairman has said.

Paraag Marathe said the Elland Road club could reward loyal supporters with cheaper prices while pricing tickets for more casual fans at a higher mark-up.

“There’s probably an opportunity to do it in a way that does increase revenue, but also makes it affordable for your most hardcore fans,” Marathe told sports industry conference Leaders Week London at Stamford Bridge.

Nottingham Forest are facing a backlash from local residents who could be left out of pocket by the club’s £790m expansion of the City Ground.

As part of the planning permission granted to increase the capacity of their 31,000-seater stadium to 52,000, Forest have agreed to contribute £4.17m towards improving surrounding travel and transport infrastructure.

But City AM can reveal Rushcliffe Borough Council’s planning committee did not require Forest to fund residents’ permits, despite suggestions they should, meaning locals will likely be forced to pay for their own.

A cloud may have fallen over talks between the NBA and EuroLeague but there is at least some welcome clarity on what a new European franchise competition operated by the US basketball behemoth will actually look like.

The vision for NBA Europe is a two-tier format based on football’s Champions League and Europa League model, the NBA’s managing director for Europe and the Middle East, George Aivazoglou, explained this week.

The 16-team top tier of a competition still slated for launch in 12 months’ time will be largely composed of new franchises in cities including London and Manchester alongside major clubs from the current European scene.

Would you like to advertise with us or become a sponsor? Please reach out to: [email protected]