American sports business tycoon Robert Kraft almost bought Liverpool Football Club in 2005, but was put off by the lack of a salary cap in football.
Kraft owns the New England Patriots of American football’s NFL and New England Revolution of the MLS and has successfully turned the New England Patriots into a dominant force within American football over the last ten years.
He revealed yesterday, ‘œI wanted buy Liverpool. I met with David Moores, who is a fine gentlemen, and we came very close to buying it, very close. But in the end, my instinct was – not without a salary cap. If a salary cap come to the English Premier League, I’d buy a team in a minute.’
‘œI loved the fans. Just like Patriot fans, they are loyal, passionate, which has zero book value on your balance sheet but is worth a lot. I knew we could do the stadium. I knew we could design it so it was fan-friendly, to maximise revenue, lowest cost – build the stadium for £100 million less than anyone else and have it be great, because we had done it in New England. I was willing to do it, but the lack of salary cap, in the end – I never like to get in over my head. If the salary cap was there, then we would have done it.’
Two years later, Moores sold the club to American tycoons Tom Hicks and George Gillett. And we all know what happened there.
Fan Comments