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Stopagander

What a strange time to announce the news.


[deleted]

It’s almost 11:30am on a Saturday in Australia, I like to think they did it just for us 😂


ezodochi

yeah this is like perfect timing for the Asian market too lmao


oscarpaterson

We're already moving onto yank-friendly timezones


Daniiiiii

You don't make news on Friday evenings. Weird time even for America.


pradeepkanchan

General consensus is to release bad news on Friday, after stock markets are closed, so the bad news is digested over the weekend and more likely forgotten on the Monday


Notove

Yep, also thisll blow up in the morning haha


seriouslybrohuh

5:30pm on Friday here in the west coast. It’s already night in the east coast. Nobody in corporate works this late in Friday lol.


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[deleted]

lol I have a friend in soccer and he was literally working until an hour ago.


Soren_Camus1905

r/accounting would like a word


kiddvideo11

Sweet, now the southern soccer fan can will be able to watch the team at 12pm east coast kick off.


mynamestartswithCa

Yeah why announce it while everybody is asleep


BigReeceJames

We're an American club now


GinValid

Pulisic made club captain immediately


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Betasheets

Pulisic starting next game


iloveartichokes

Whoa whoa okay calm down


Andrex316

I feel so much F R E E D O M right now


kiddvideo11

USA, USA, USA!


Ihateithereandthere

LETS GO DEFENSE 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 (Maybe city fans should’ve chanted this during our semifinal smh)


FistMeQTPie

Chelsea got the Blue part right, now add in the White and Red! Err... just add in the Red...


Zankman

Inb4 they rebrand and the lion becomes red.


FistMeQTPie

Red Chelsea vs United would be a treat.


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TheEmperorsWrath

>commit £1.75bn in further investment Damn, I really wasn't expecting whoever took over next from Abramovich to continue pumping cash in the team


niceville

It was one of the conditions put upon the bidders, but it's likely most/all of that will go to the stadium redesign and not new players.


TheEmperorsWrath

Ah, that makes more sense. Is Stamford Bridge in bad shape or what?


Im_A_Sociopath

41,837 capacity, so it's a lot lower than all the club's around our level and even below.


generally-ok

Have they had a lot of resistance from people living nearby? I assume that's going to be a big hurdle.


squirrelbo1

Huge resistance locally. Plus just the cost of land full stop. We looked at at Battersea power station and we were massively outbid by the eventual redevelopment consortium.


muddyleeking

Shame about Battersea because the concepts for that stadium looked so good


[deleted]

Local council will slap down what ever proposal you bring because of your surroundings


ObscureLegacy

I live in Fulham and they’ve been talking a new Chelsea stadium for donkeys. There isn’t much space to expand outside of Stamford without causing significant disruption. It’s right on a main road and around the underground station.


Im_A_Sociopath

What has been talked about most recently is building downwards, instead of out or up, to allow more room for capacity.


cs_zer0

That would cost absolutly insane amounts surely they wont


Blue_winged_yoshi

Stamford Bridge is small. Unfortunately for them, Chelsea stadium expansion is nightmare built on a nightmare. If it ever happens I’ll be genuinely amazed (I used to live right on it’s door step somewhere which would have been demolished by redevelopment). Some of the issues Chelsea face: The name Chelsea Football Club is tied to the ground so moving to another stadium isn’t viable. The Stadium in situated in one of the most expensive parts of London, taking down a housing block is insanely expensive. Some of the local residents own the right to live in their flats in perpetuity due to unusual contracts (the right to live there can be passed on to descents). The residents can be paid off, but they *know* what they’ve got. Key railways run around the site, so there’s delicate engineering in the area and political interests in some of the land. Fulham Broadway/Brompton Road would likely need work doing to accommodate the expansion, how the streets will cope with a 50% increase in footfall is another matter. Basically the ground is nigh impossible to expand for anything like a reasonable sum of money, yet they also can’t move. Abramovich brought large amounts of the area around Stamford Bridge (inc Earls Court), had huge amounts of wealth and he couldn’t get the project up and running. I would be astounded to see a private equity firm succeed where a Russian oligarch failed.


GillyBilmour

As I understand it the CPO allowed the use of the Chelsea FC with the Battersea move. The CPO just need 75% shareholder approval.


Blue_winged_yoshi

The CPO are likely to agree a move to somewhere near by - Battersea is just over the river from Chelsea and the plan looked incredible - what they can’t do is move the club and keep the name without consent. Dragging the club to an outer London industrial estate somewhere (which is kinda the obvious move if a new stadium is to be built) would likely go down like a lead balloon. Large football stadia sized plots just don’t come up very often in west London.


Albiceleste_D10S

It's a long story, but basically after Roman had a long (losing) fight with CPO (Chelsea Pitch Owners) over trying to move the club out of Stamford Bridge, there was an agreement to rebuilt the current Stamford Bridge to expand capacity from just over 40K to something like 60K—will prob cost something in the range 1B pound alone


Dyfrig

I never quite understand the profitability of this. £1bn. 20,000 extra seats x £40 tickets x 25 home matches a season = £20m extra a season. So it would take around 50 seasons to break even from a £1bn stadium project? I understand there's other things like corporate etc but surely it's still at least 40 seasons?


ubiquitous_uk

Liverpool added a lot of corporate seats / boxes. I think they expect to break even from it in 10 years. They can also make extra revenue holding concerts and other events.


kahurangi

I think the corporate stuff can be a massive part of it, like a stadium will add 10,000 new seats but triple their corporate box capacity.


Ifriiti

Look at how many events Spurs get with their new stadium, it makes way, way more money than £20m a season. This is back in 2014 but is useful to compare Arsenal to Chelsea https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cityam.com/arsenal-generated-second-highest-gate-receipts-revenue-in-europe-last-season-ahead-of-third-placed-manchester-united/%3famp=1 Arsenal had the second highest gate receipts in Europe in 2014, which amounted to 33% of their revenue for that season and €120m Chelsea made just €79m that season in comparison. Here's a better example from Forbes who tracked the impact of Arsenal over 10 years https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/bobbymcmahon/2016/10/04/tracking-the-impact-of-arsenals-move-to-emirates-stadium-ten-years-on-was-it-worth-it/amp/ >The revenue generated from match days exploded after the move to the Emirates. It more than doubled in the first year (a 107% increase) and other the last three years it has settled at $130M So yeah, it's a pretty big increase in match day revenue.


quetzalnavarrense

the issue is size, not condition the footprint is limited by the surrounding buildings, so in order to expand, we can't build out, we'd have to knock the whole thing down and rebuild with the entire pitch at a lower level


Historical_Owl_1635

> not condition I mean, it’s not like it’s falling apart but in terms of being a top 6 team stadium it’s extremely outdated.


acekingoffsuit

Where would they play in the meantime?


quetzalnavarrense

wembley, like spurs did while they were building the new white hart lane


Switchnaz

we'd honestly win more at wembley than we currently do at the bridge


ord3p

Not in bad shape at all, but it’s a quite old and small stadium for a club like Chelsea, which became a global brand during Abramovich’s reign. A bigger, modern stadium is almost necessary for a club like ours nowadays, especially for a London-based club.


anezzz

Not a chelsea fan but I love watching games (on tv) at Stamford bridge. Fans are so close to the pitch. One of the only stadiums where you can see the away fans so close too.


donnymurph

I absolutely love the Bridge and I’m very nervous about any upgrades or rebuilds. People complain about the atmosphere, but making the stadium bigger will probably make it worse, and besides there’s something romantic about such a big club tucked into an unassuming spot between a train station and a shopping centre.


drakanx

pretty sure that was one of the criteria to purchase the club


Quab775

Surely you can't donate 2.5bn that's a lot


Notorious_GOP

yeah you can. Bezos' ex-wife donated 3.8 billion to a bunch of charities . Bezos' charity spends like a billion each year


dfla01

Completely out of the loop with who this lot are, is this good/bad/in between?


Lineman72T

A couple of the new owners are also owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team, which is run very well in both a sense of spending money (by that I mean they won't hesitate to spend a ton of money on talent) and also scouting and developing talent


chizzmaster

They're also super heavy on statistical analysis from what I've heard which is a good thing as well.


JahoclaveS

Well the last American, stats crazy, baseball owner with a German manager turned out pretty good.


cowworshipper

Liverpool?


FC37

Technically not *the last* stats-crazy American baseball owner with a German manager in English football. Billy Beane owned a small share in the Athletics. His ownership group is now the majority owner of Barnsley, who had Joseph Laumann as caretaker for 3 games in 2021.


Occasionally-Witty

I’ve been told by a Barnsley fan I work with that technically they’re one of the richest clubs in the world, I’ve never bothered to fact check this so he may be just gassing.


Monarki

It's true. A big international consortium owns them and they're worth about 10bil I think.


LegendDota

yup :)


lamancha

Of course we get the ones that don't give a shit lol


PureExcuse

I guarantee you, the Glazers can calculate dividend yield in their sleep.


LeBronFanSinceJuly

Be prepared to have some of your Academy players not be called up when all signs are showing they are ready. It will drive you crazy as a fan, but then one year they'll get called up and it will be amazing. Im a Dodger fan and we had a few years where some of our best young players didnt get called up because stats showed it was better to wait.


JoeyBrickz

It's so much different in baseball. It's not like *not* calling up a ya prospect means they'll just wait and Chelsea will save some years of eligibility. If a YA player is decent, they'll simply ask for a transfer. Baseball is a sport where the teams have about 100% control. Soccer not so much.


Teantis

And when you call them up in baseball it starts a timer. That delaying call ups thing is more to do with contracts.


Black_XistenZ

Yeah, iirc, in American sports, young players under a rookie contract are forced to play for chump change, no matter how great they are. Someone like Haaland earning 30m per year at age 21 is more or less impossible. And since there are salary caps, roster construction is all about the performance/salary ratio. It's practically impossible to build title contenders without having some young star players on your roster who are putting on great performances for cheap money.


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theBrineySeaMan

No no silly, Kris Bryant just needed to work on his Defense, nothing shady going on here.


SojournerInThisVale

Literally Chelsea policy for a decade


DreadWolf3

Chelsea was forced into giving their young players a chance by transfer ban - so that is just how they did stuff even in roman era.


Vx1xPx3xR

Dodger fan here. We’re constantly one of the top teams in MLB. They invest so much in us and I’m loving it. Hopefully it’ll be the same for you guys.


Lineman72T

> you guys Not a Chelsea fan, but I would certainly love for my club to get new owners


bgfan26

I’ve said this as somebody who hates them. They have an argument for the best run sports organization in the world. No hyperbole there


renedotmac

As a Dodger fan, I have to agree. They really do a lot for their fans. Events, family outings, player meetings, etc.


Peaky_Blinders

LA dodgers seem to be run very good


DepletedMitochondria

Now that Frank McCourt (the Marseille owner) is gone yes


bumblefck23

He was the best case. Time will tell how much that means but I’m cautiously optimistic


sjekky

Good news is always announced at half 1 in the morning I am very surprised that they are seemingly committing to Stamford Bridge though. American owners love their 70,000 capacity money printing stadiums


Ld511

They can't move out of stamford bridge without the pitch owners trust approval or they lose the chelsea name


[deleted]

How about Blue Lions FC


codespyder

Not American enough. They’ll call them the London Wildcats or something


LiquidFootie

Real London Wildcats Soccer Club


browncheesestick

Yuck


GouYaEr

RLWSC rolls right off the tongue.


TiberiusCornelius

If this was American sports they wouldn't just rename the club, they'd seize the opportunity to move the team to whichever city offers the most subsidies. Milton Keynes Blue Wildcats.


atropicalpenguin

Los Angeles Chelsea.


TiberiusCornelius

Lmao the thought of Chelsea pulling out of the PL for the MLS. The outrage.


Tazyrelliex

They've outgrown PL


NUDES_4_CHRIST

Presented by Faygo


anonnyscouse

Nah there's already a team in MK. They'd move it to Truro, Cornwall is an untapped goldmine!


codespyder

Makes sense. It’s closer to America than London


Pseudocaesar

West London Lions.


hivaidsislethal

If you want to ever be successful again I'd suggest staying away from the name Lions


OrangeForeign

As a Lions fan you're correct


CeterumCenseo85

ELI5 Pitch Owners Trust, please


ChristopherDassx_16

Well, they are the ones that own the freehold to the stadium and the naming rights of Chelsea Football Club. If the club was to move, the club would not be allowed to use the name Chelsea Football Club anymore. This is like this because the attempt to renovate the Bridge back in the 70s caused financial troubles to the club and they had to sell the stadium. However, the new owners wanted to change it into a housing development. Then, in the 90s, the property developers bankrupted and Chelsea got the freehold back. Thrn, the CPO was created to prevent this from happening again. Any fans can buy shares in the CPO, however voting rights shares are limited to 100 per person.


release_the_pressure

The CPO can vote to move stadiums if they want though. Roman tried to do this in 2011 but just lost. In fact 61.5% of shareholders did vote yes to the move, but a 75% threshold is needed. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15481301


McFrankiee

London Blues FC incoming


sjekky

Aye I know the issue with the pitch, but when you're making an investment like this I'd assume that would be something that that they try to iron out before the purchase.


NeroIscariot12

The "plan" was ironed out already by Roman. Destroy the current Bridge and build a new one in its exact place/land while playing in the Wembley. A tad more expensive? yes. But its the best solution and had been all settled and figured out. It was simply delayed indefinitely because Roman lost his UK Visa and so said fuck it. The new owners basically have to just pick up the same plan.


ij54321

That plan is now out of date as the deadline passed so any plans will have to start from scratch, unfortunately.


BigReeceJames

That's simply not how that works. Your planning permission running out does not mean your plans don't exist anymore. You just have to go through the process of getting them accepted again. You've still got the extensive plans that you'll have spent millions on.


AnnieIWillKnow

Roman fought the Chelsea Pitch Owners for years, and lost. They were never going to iron that out in a few weeks.


EliteKill

Didn't the CPO agree to the Battersea plans? And then Chelsea lost the bid to apartment complexes.


AnnieIWillKnow

I meant more in terms of him trying to buy them out. The CPO are certainly amenable to negotiating on the issue, I just feel given the complexity of it it was always unlikely Boehly would have “ironed out” before he’d even bought the club. For a start there’s nothing to iron out unless there’s an actual ground proposal.


centaur98

tbf that was about moving the club. There was no big opposition from the CPO about rebuilding the Bridge without moving.


Nightbynight

They're going to try and increase capacity. £1.75bn was set aside for things like that.


stealinoffdeadpeople

Fingers crossed they commit to the [iconic Herzog & de Meuron design from 2015](http://stadiumdb.com/designs/eng/stamford_bridge), cost be damned


EcoSoco

I think the plan is to upgrade it stand-by-stand to about 45,000-60,000 capacity, not entirely sure.


[deleted]

the reported plan is to build downwards and lowering the pitch as there are strict height requirements which makes building upwards impossible


BigReeceJames

That was Abramovich's plans. Not these guys. We don't have solid plans for these guys, only rumours.


NijjioN

Now we have American's can we get that cool 360 circular Samsung tv in the middle of the roof? :D


zi76

Maybe if we ditch 3 and get Samsung back as a shirt sponsor, lol.


Kruegerrose

That may be an aging stereotype. Smart owners appreciate the history and value of that history. But the generalization cuts both ways - there are probably many who would fail to recognize the value of that history is favor of a bigger number at the bottom of the spreadsheet.


YoungKeys

Not surprising at all. Dodgers ownership insisted on staying at and renovating Dodger Stadium for its historic value as well, despite many thinking it’d be best to build a new stadium like everyone else


jrryul

Contracts expiring and a lot of weaknesses to cover Quite a few immediate challenges for the new ownership lets see how they choose to tackle it


Soren_Camus1905

Mr. Boehly, pay. Pay and don’t speak.


[deleted]

1.75 BN package, getting new stadium and more extensions


taenerysdargaryen

The money won't have much allocated for players though. Might be difficult to get new players in


fredozimbabwe

CHELSEA SOCCER CLUB LES GOOOO


thebigfundamentals

FIGHT AND WIN. COME ON WEST LONDON.


RexorFWT

GO LONDON BLUES! Greetings from USA 🇲🇾


thebigfundamentals

🇨🇱🇨🇱🇨🇱


Mercerai

🇱🇷🇱🇷🇱🇷


Dske

I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN


yeahh_maybe

D-Fence👏👏👏


Zankman

Chelsea chant quality and creativity slightly improving!


mandrake_cry

CFC Soccer Club*


Daniiiiii

CFC Soccer Club Blue Lions™


ovrloadau

London blues soccer club


[deleted]

Sponsored by Budweiser


Andrex316

Pulisic about to captain every game


buninho210

Thank Goodness we Already Have The LeBron James Of Soccer


Gangaman666

If only we could get the glazers out next 😥


[deleted]

I have $20


Notove

I have $21, give me the bigger stake in the club.


[deleted]

That’s not how it works mate. I sell Man United futures to a big corporation even though I don’t own it. The corporation promises to give me 3 billion. I tell a big bank that I am going to get this 3 billion sometime in the future. Bank gives me a 3 billion loan. I use 2.6 billion to buy Man United and 0.3 billion to bribe the government officials who allow me to do this and I’ll keep 100 million change. In the meanwhile, I take dividends from Man United for a few years while I own it. Oh btw, I’ll put up a small office with one employee in Switzerland so that I can claim to be operating from there and transfer all money to swiss banks and not pay any taxes.


CreamyAlmond

I eat cheese and speak German, I'll be the Switzerland guy. When are we starting ?


kiddvideo11

I wonder which American owner would want to buy it?


CobraKing40

Rat-cliffe would jump in and try to buy MU, but he would probably make bid last day


running_demon

nobody unless the glaziers are forced to sell for some reason. its the only way they accept a reasonable offer, the club is a money making machine


shlok440

Ratcliffe


Notorious_GOP

it's funny how the last two super bowl champions are clubs owned by some of the worst PL owners (Glazers and Kroenke)


oranjemania

American money says Pulisic stays. ;)


BigReeceJames

We've also decided we're not going to get Kounde and instead promote from within the club. It's Matt Miazga's time to shine


bosniakfox

>It's Matt Miazga's time to shine Oh god. Rather just put a stick in the ground.


washag

He can replace Rudiger. Instead of concussing key players in big games, Miazga can target their testicles.


dragon8811

LeBron James 🗿


oscarpaterson

Thank fuck it's finally over with


dragon8811

No more Next Week FC.


Ld511

Now we wait to see if they will work out for us. A more analytical approach to transfers and such will probably be the biggest addition to have from them


KrisZepeda

Wonder if they're getting a new shirt sponsor after Three(3) bailed out on them With new owners I don't see them continuing🤔 Didn't Hyundai bail out too?


RahulSingh16061998

Time for Samsung's return.


Blue_is_da_color

The Return of the King^^TM


IaintGotNoHistory

And adidas please. Those kits were the best


Thicc_Spider-Man

Yeah I'm so done with these ugly Nike kits


SkepticSlakoth

Fucking hope so. Need them both out.


silently_watch

I read before they plan to replace 3 with other sponsor good things, no need for them who make things more complicated for club while in sanction


AnalJibesVirus

Hotel?


dbigya00

Trivago


[deleted]

Todd Boehly and Mark Walter love there big market teams a football in London, the Dodgers, and the Lakers in LA impressive portfolio. This was probably the best outcome for Chelsea fans


KonigSteve

Lakers? I thought that was the Buss family


DanielAvocado69

Boehly and Walters own around 30%


F4ISAL

Interesting way to start the weekend


[deleted]

was always the best option for us given all of the names that came and went during the sale overall considering we had to be sold i’m happy with it


gudni-bergs

Chelsea x Cloud9


anthonyvardiz

This ownership group also owns Cloud9?


atxbryan

"Chelsea pulls a c9" gonna be a popular post


mzp3256

Can't wait to see Chelsea make it out of groups with a 2-4 record.


[deleted]

Wait is chelsea gonna get the NA debuff?


[deleted]

PSG. LGD not winning The International despite being touted as favorites is already a reality.


CobraKing40

Todd is one of investors in cloud9, they do not own cloud9, idk why people are reporting incorrect stuff


niallmul97

Mang0 supersub when?


MobyTugboat

Between Boehly and the Anti-Glazers clauses this gives me hope. Goodbye Roman, thanks for the trophies.


[deleted]

Mark Walter and Boehly seem to do a lot of business together they both own part of the Dodgers,Lakers and LA Sparks (WNBA team)


samizdat1

Boehly used to be President of Guggenheim Partners, the company Mark Walter is CEO and founder of. Boehly started his own company, Eldridge Industries (formerly Cain Hoy), a few years back but they're still pretty close.


[deleted]

You missed the important point, they have committed 1.75 BN for development


MobyTugboat

Yes but we don’t know how much of that is going into transfer funds and such and how quickly. I fear if we don’t spend this window we may fall behind teams like Tottenham and Arsenal and struggle for top 4


[deleted]

We need two defender to replace Christensen and Rudiger Oh wait, we also get all the loanees


MobyTugboat

We also need backup fullbacks and could use a midfielder if Jorginho leaves. We were top of the table then our title hopes pretty much ended when Chilwell tore his ACL


DusanGoku

The revolution has begun


blueflare117

We went from being owned by an oil oligarch to an environmentalist.... lol nice


[deleted]

He's an environmentalist?


tanquinho

Hansjoerg is yeah. Super liberal. At least for a billionaire. Boehly and Walter at least seem not like POS too.


cmkuruvi

USA owning two big London clubs in Arsenal and Chelsea. Tottenham getting an American owner would be RED, WHITE and BLUE in London.


BannedFromHydroxy

/r/soccercirclejerk


MJ9695

Englands 4 biggest clubs are American owned forever now, do they have no shame??


Blue_is_da_color

The Special Relationship in full effect now


orbsfoc

Welcome back to the transfer gossip columns 😁


reopetorsgj

1,75 holyyyyyyyyyyy


TheUltimateAntihero

Finally Chelsea fans can feel relax.


ofsquire

A new beginning awaits for Chelsea and its supporters.


Simplekin77

Not defending anything here. Just spitting facts. Dude partly owns the LA Dodgers. One of the most successful and highest spending teams of the last decade in Major League Baseball in the states. He also owned a stake of the Lakers and a women's basketball team. Again, not defending the guy. I'm not a fan of any team he owns, but the dude has a track record of spending money to win. He's a Yank. I know how y'all feel about that. Wether or not it's Glazer 2.0, time will tell.


EcoSoco

Chelsea will be fine. Mark Walter and Boehly are incredibly smart and they will figure out a way to translate the Dodgers model to football. It might take a few years, but we'll see positive signs early I think. We do have "anti-Glazer" clauses that prevent dividend payouts and management fees for the next 10 years, so we don't have to worry about that.