Why are even billionaires shying away from buying Premier League and Championship clubs?

If they aren't queuing up now with all the money around from Sky they never will.

This article would also suggest that existing owners, investors if you like, would be mad to put more of their own money in. No hope of a return comparable to that available elsewhere exists. When people demand that the current owners of EFC put more money in, they should first explain why that would make sense to anyone not looking to lose money.

Swansea are 20% fan-owned with zero net debt, profitable, steadily growing turnover; a well run business translating into on the field success; and at a fraction of the fan-base and potential that we have.

They just had to go bankrupt to hit the reset button... Sigh.

Still... no takers. And of course, EFC is "not for sale" anyway, so who cares?

The quicker the governing bodies introduce a wage cap the better, and don't say it can't be done because, if it works in the land of the free, it can work anywhere.

Is the club running at maximum potential right now? Or are we devoid of fresh ideas and motivation, with a lethargic mid-table-is-fine attitude and ambition?

With the current board, I'm reminded of an old friend who thought he was the best FIFA 96 player ever! He regaled us with stories of 9-0 wins and spectacular goals... until someone who could actually play (at world class level) showed him how it was played...

As regards not making a profit, if any of the prices mentioned recently are accurate, our current owners are set to realise profits of several hundred percent... despite investing and delivering nothing since taking over. I'm not sure that they would've got a better return anywhere else... certainly not for achieving so little.

If no provisions are made for the future of the club, we could very easily lose credit lines and other important financial aspects and find the club back in a similar situation it was in during the early 90s: rudderless and with various people fighting for control of it.

We don't need and probably won't find any Billionaires to buy the club but what we do need is people who understand the game and have the necessary skills to build upon what is already in place. Some would argue that there isn't that much to build on given the state of the stadium etc, but – regardless of what some believe – we are still a very decent club with (perhaps due to the financial state of the game) ambitions beyond our means; at least the fans still have that ambition to a large degree.

A clean handover is what is required at whatever point the club changes hands and hopefully the new people will carry on guiding the club in a way that gives it the best chances of success.

Whatever the overall sentiments towards Bill and his fellow board-members, change will happen at some point; we as fans cannot influence it and we have to trust the judgement of the current board to put the club first in whatever transpires in the future.

The market dictates what a business or club is worth and I do not think for one minute that there aren't potential buyers out there.

As the Kansas City guy said, talks took place but the price and the timing were not right for them.

The Premier League is one of the biggest worldwide sporting brands and opens up marketing opportunities for any wealthy person or company.

With Bill's illness and no apparent succession planning, the time is right for new owners... but some of the complications of doing a deal need to be faced and remedied.

My guess is that something will be unveiled at the AGM. The Americans who discussed a sale with the Chairman couldn't agree a price but they felt that a sale would go through in a matter of months. That, at least is what their CEO said.

I'm hoping it's true and that we get a group in who will have a vision, a plan and the drive to realise it.

We are only looking at the competitions through Everton eyes, but there are at least 13 other Premier League clubs + all the clubs in the Football League that have very little chance of rising to become Champions!

No disrespect but if you don't have faith in your ability to succeed, then why bother?

So many people are so scared of failure that they never take a risk. We are the fourth most successful team in the whole history of the Sport including a barren last 20 years when the cash prizes have been so high.That tells me we have unfulfilled potential.

If only somebody with more drive and ambition had had the chance to buy the club when Bill took over for £20M, we would be in an altogether better place...

Where do you think someone with 'drive and ambition' would have taken us?

Who do you have in mind? Is it somebody with a lot of money?

Like Randy Lerner?
Like Joe Lewis?
Like Jeremy Peace?

Whoever buys a club and attempts to compete with the above teams would have to invest (if that's the right word... 'donate' more likely) a huge amount of money to challenge for the Premier League title.

Many rich men have tried and spectacularly failed.

Maybe, if someone with drive and ambition like Paul Gregg had put Everton's share of the most wonderful stadium we were ever likely to have a chance of.

We have spectacularly failed with no attempt to invest in the club, so no wonder we've failed.

I don't have anybody in mind... but there are plenty of people with more drive and ambition than this bunch of cronies.

And as regards needing to have big pockets, this crowd of cronies have put zero into the club while expecting at least a 600% return on their shares.

Raymond, the common factor in all your successful teams is a dynamic board who had top managers. Our chairman didn't even get off his sofa to get Martinez in.

Although there is, of course, the potential for some difference between making a profit from owning a football club & actually running the club at a profit.

Mind you, the day that the TV deals don't increase massively will be an interesting one.

I would say people invest in football clubs for the capital gain rather than the income earning potential. Making it more like buying a house than a business. Of course the property market has been shown to have 'bubbles' but that could never happen in football could it?

In the whole of British senior league football, there are but FOUR clubs with unbridled wealth – mainly due to the backing of their foreign owners – Arsenal, Chelsea and the two Manchesters. Aspiring to one day join them – although with little hope of ever doing so – are Spurs and RS.

Clinging desperately to the hope of expanding the ranks of top competitors beyond that six are clubs of former greatness such as Everton, Aston Villa and Newcastle Utd – all able to attract regular gates approaching 40,000.

Given that I totally buy into the author's premise above that the billionaires have lost interest, the really big question as we look into future is not whether we can break into that 'top six' for more than the odd season but rather that whoever comes to own us can avoid the fate of our fellow big city clubs who, in spite of having wealthy owners, seem to have fallen into the pits.

So, Europa League and a few cups would seem to be the best we can hope for – Bill or no Bill. It could be a lot worse!

Most billionaires got where they are by being less than generous with money though.

Unless they were soaked in oil or emotive fans then you'd expect them to do pretty much what 'Bill and his cronies' have done - keep things tight and lap up their returns.

The "who" is the billion dollar question, isn't it. As for "when", I think it will be sooner rather than later.

Steavey Buckley #26 is right up there with one of my particular favourites, the one where it was suggested we buy the player Honda then try and strike a sponsorship detail with er..... Honda.

So should Apple buy Everton? I mean a 𧵎 billion pound company is often looking to acquire businesses that have a turnover of 0.1% of their own, especially one that is a football club when you are a technology company.

I mean they are seriously lacking brand recognition, if only they had their name on Everton's shirts people might suddenly find out about the iPhone. (I googled that just to make sure I got the name right.)

And of course what a great brand fit. I mean the world's premium technology brand associated with Everton. They could use it as a staff incentive for those people in Cupertino. A visit to a game, a pint in the Winslow and chips and curry at the Goodison Supper Bar.

Another example of ToffeeWebonomics.

We are sick and tired of Bill's false promises about new stadiums that disappear soon after season ticket sales are closed. This mob of shysters should be run out of town.

No need for a telescope, I can see it in my mind's eye. I feel sorry that decent match-going Evertonians need to pass under its shadow.

Spot on, I can hear it now

"And if you know your iStory"

Dick is very modest.

Well, I heard he was defo going to have a right good rummage around before hopefully... and dramatically... raising a triumphant fist full of debt-reducing £50 notes into the air, but then (what bastard luck) his hand got possessed by a stubborn malevolent spirit like in Evil Dead 2 and, after a ferocious slapstick struggle, what ended up being pulled from the cavernous pocket of one William Kenwright was something a little more akin to this:

Link

If he gets a 'thank you' banner flown from a plane simply for being 'a blue', what would he get for wiping out all club debt with his own coin? An absolutely massive rocket shot into space, containing an artistic monkey astronaut specially trained since birth to scrawl 'We fucking love you Bill' on the surface of the Moon with it's own freshly crapped bum crayons that glow bright blue due to said apeonaut being fed on a pure diet of parma-violets and urinal cakes ever since being pulled kicking and screaming from his mother's monkey pussy?

The guy’s name is Tim Cook. He seems like a very interesting character to me - he plans to leave all his personal wealth to charity when he dies.

https://philanthropy.com/article/After-Steve-Jobs-Apple-Steps/228899

I wonder if any large organisation has ever considered buying a Premier League club and converting it into a not for profit organisation?

Certainly Everton with its wonderful support of Everton in the community would provide a perfect platform for such a venture.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/Everton/11337745/Everton-are-a-shining-beacon-for-football-as-a-force-for-good-in-the-community.html

As Graham at (32) quite rightly points out, Apple certainly have enough money to buy and fund Everton – after all Sheikh Mansour only has 㾽 billion of his own personal wealth.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_City_F.C._ownership_and_finances

What interests me about that article is that he paid 𧶀M for the club in 2008 and it is now worth 𨀼M. Even if you take into account the losses and expenditure on facility upgrade totalling 𧾡M, it seems he is only down -㿙M.

1. He was just winding you up
2. We made an operating profit of £5m last accounts
3. Debt is growing (19% increase in the last accounts)

When you say debt rose by 19% are you in fact saying creditors both short and long term rose by 19%?

A bit like the rumour also started by Bill that he remortgaged his house to buy the shares in Everton ultimately proven to be another of his "fibs".