Pursuit Sports: TFG's new vehicle for their 'soccer' clubs

The Friedkin Group hire ex-FSG chief to lead new US company Everton will be a part of

Being thankful for small mercies, I’d say that would be a massive win for us!

“These sports teams have souls you really need to nurture” Fucking hell Beeston, do you actually know who you’re talking to and who you’re talking about🤦‍♂️

As for nurturing the souls of the clubs, he seems to be saying that they know they’re outsiders and are only stewards of Everton. We are the soul of the club, and that should be nurtured. What else would you want to hear?

Tony #2, I think he does know who he's talking to and about, and is expressing TFG's sense of responsibility to them.

So before they have made any real key strategic decisions they are telling us that we know that we might not be happy with them Michael?

I didn’t read it like you Jonathan, because even through the bad times, I have always believed that Everton, have always been an English institution because of our longevity, and I genuinely believe that the last thing that needs nurturing at Everton, is our great fanbase.

So he’s telling his new bosses that they have a lot of responsibility towards the fans Mike?

Time will tell if TFG are the answer but they are surely a big improvement on what went before.

They've put separate boards in each club to run them separately and now they have put top layer oversight in place to run their sporting businesses.

So TFG are removed from direct involvement, which should avoid a Crystal Palace type scenario when we qualify for Europe.

If they are seeking to take on an NFL team, then don't be surprised to see that appear at the new stadium, despite Tottenham and Wembley's monopoly on that to date.

As for soul. There is only one group that owns the rights to the soul of Everton and that is us. We've lived and breathed it since before we can remember. As Tony says in a different way, get to know your audience and be careful what you say and how you say it. As much as we support to the hilt, we can be an unforgiving bunch.

We may be grateful for the investment, but scars run deep and a combination of the last nearly 40 years, plus being a deep rooted traditional fan base doesn't mean we will be bowled over with buzz words. We will judge on actions.

Always finish on.a positive. The change we've wanted for years is happening, so I hope he comes in and lives by his words.

It will be a very different Everton, but we, the supporters, won't lose our heart and soul.

Incidentally, Beeston is very highly regarded in the industry. He's a former key executive of RS owners Fenway Sports Group, where for 12 years he oversaw their commercial ventures, generating the kind of cross-sponsorship revenues we'd love to see at Everton:

“One of the companies I oversaw by the end of my tenure was Fenway Sports Management, which was selling sponsorships for the Red Sox, NESN (that's New England Sports Network, where I once did freelance work), Liverpool, [Pittsburgh] Penguins, PGA Tour, Boston Common Golf. The more you can scale that, it doesn’t sacrifice anything, because it drives incremental revenue.”

In regards to ManUre I thought that was the Leprechaun's only adventure in to footie, Not sure about Buehly though, cheers

It’s only words, and you only have to read the first few views on this thread to realise that a lot of us take what has been said, differently.

Maybe not everyone, maybe just me, but because I have always felt that most people in football, just pay lip service, then when they don’t, I tend to look into things that little bit more.

The article isn’t even about Everton, (we are still waiting patiently for TFG’S real plans, imo) it’s about our owners forming a new company in the USA, to bring together their sporting assets.

Truthfully there’s a focus on the next thing they do - in North America and not soccer would be his guess. Even though they want to be where the eyeballs are?

The premier league is the biggest football league in the world, so if they want to be where the eyeballs are, then hopefully they concentrate on getting Everton, into the champions league!

That’s good, stop worrying everyone, because although they are very, very quiet, my new bosses know exactly what they have got to do?

Sometimes it’s better saying nothing, but as I have said, the only real connection to Everton football club, in this article, is the forming of a new company, even though we already belong to TFG, anyway

It’s just that when I read the words; these sports teams have souls you really need to nurture, then it doesn’t make any real sense to me.

If I’m being honest it sounds like he his talking absolute shite, trying to convince others that they just have to nurture our soul.🤷‍♂️

The last thing anyone needs to do to an Evertonian, is nurture their soul, and I’m sure even Liverpool fans would tell you this, if they were being honest

They are the custodians. We are the constant.

I get where Tony is coming from. We don't need telling us to nurture our soul. There is a fine balance between recognition, praise and being patronising.

I don't need reminding me of my Everton soul. I think my Dad sold that to the club the day I was born.

We are a very demanding support-base and rightly so. One that for generations like mine has been hurting for decades. It has made us very protective and suspicious about something that is ours.

We have been seriously let down but won't let go. We never will.

The younger ones embarrass me with their persistence and ability to keep going. I'm looking forward to a brighter future for those younger generations. They deserve it more than me.

To finish, I don.t mind a bit of corporate talk. We've needed it for years, and to be run professionally. But I would just be careful as to how they communicate with a lot of our traditional support base.

They need to understand Everton and Evertonians.

A bit of a ramble, but I hope it makes a bit of sense.

Wenger probably tapped into French players because he was French, but they produce a lot of very powerful physical footballers, and this is definitely one of the major attributes required to play in the very physically demanding EPL.

He looks alright to me Jake, definitely much better than the 777 Dude, who loved his baseball caps

Ian and Danny, the Friedkins bought out the remnants of AS Cannes a couple of years ago, almost a decade after the club's financial collapse. It's just a fourth-tier club now, although they did reach the semis of the French Cup this year.

Dan Friedkin goes way back in Cannes. His movies have been big winners at the Film Festival. Not a wild speculation to guess that's how he got acquainted with the club.

We probably got a bit carried away on words. A way of describing it is that we won't give our trust away, until. well, we trust. After what we've been through, that may take time.

Mike @ 25, thank you for that. It makes sense now given Dan Friedkin's connection with the film industry. He flew a Spitfire in the film (movie) Dunkirk right?

Hopefully though, whatever he does will be good for Everton.

Exactly, Robert, 30 years to be precise, 30 long years that have taken us to the absolute depths of despair. But we are still standing.

When the club was on its knees and the team plummeted into the relegation zone, four points from safety, with six matches remaining, the younger Evertonians, fans who have seen us win zilch, organised a coach welcome, that was attended by over 7,000 defiant Evertonians and a dog, because they have a love for our club that definitely does not need nurturing.

If Dan Friedkin wants to give us what we want, then he can fly his plane after he has delivered and I'm sure he will be overwhelmed at the party that is going on below.

I love that song, Robert, brilliantly sang and instinctively recognised as a song of joy, but our own song “We Shall Not Be Moved” is about defiance, it's about pride, and it's about longevity, and anyone who has ever heard us sing it, definitely knows that Evertonians don't need fucking nurturing!

Choose your words better, Dave. And Mike, I just hope your blood pressure can take it when you finally see Everton win the cup.

Under the late departed, Everton had no governance structure; now, we're drowning in it. Just imagine all those 'super execs' vying for the Friedkin ear. God spare us!

They missed a trick by not starting this first. South of France, jet set lifestyle...

"Short to medium term - win a trophy" wasn't actually in his short to medium term vision statement.

TFG, Pursuit Sports, or any other businesses, and it is business, they are not in it to give away their hard-earned $$$, want maximum return for whatever they put in!

So they must see one club as the top of the tree, they must see where the biggest return for success will be if they invest?

I'm not saying that's definitely us, I'm just saying they can't have each club, even on how they are willing to invest for success, because success at each club is viewed totally differently.

Would it take as much investment at Cannes in the French league to achieve relative success? I'm not saying overtake PSG, but is there huge competition? However the rewards are not as rich as the Premier League.

Roma are not as successful in Italy is we are historically, yet it may not need as much investment to achieve European football, or success, or even domestic titles as it would here in the Premier League.

Yet the difference with winning Serie A and winning the Premier League is enormous. The return for coming 4th, 5th or 6th in the Premier League could outweigh winning Serie A.

Yet the competition is so fierce it makes it harder to achieve the relative success, and therefore a return on the investment.

Money may be the driving force of these multi-club owners, however, money won't guarantee success in football. Evertonians know this more than most fans. TFG know this, Roma must have learnt them lessons.

Football now, even with all the money, is about people, finding the right people!

Yes, you may need big money for the top people, but there are people out there now who are going to be the top coaches, scouts, & DOFs that will take clubs forward.

A Simione, Klopp, Pep is still the most important person at a club.

It's about company growth through the acquisition of individual sports teams that can leverage other financial opportunities for the group (eg, the selling of club credit cards to its supporters, the manufacture of merchandise and its sales structures across the group for economies of scale as examples).

The value of the sum of all teams together outweigh the individual sum. Scale.

But herein lies a serious problem for football clubs in the same region – in our case, Europe. The measure of a successful club in Europe is winning titles, silverware, or at the very least, qualification to European competitions. Having two or thee clubs in Europe vying for the same measure of success will result in ownership issues with eligibility to compete.

What concerns me, as I have said before, is exactly how Everton FC and AS Roma are going to square that circle with authorities when, not if, they both qualify for the same competition?

Lastly, nurturing my soul... well, after the last 25 years of shame, humiliation and pain, a little bit of nurturing of my bruised soul won't go amiss but, with respect (that means "none whatsoever") I don't need anybody to tell me I need fixing, it's condescending. They didn't purchase my soul when they bought the Everton shares!

Maybe they have learned after Roma that it's not good to get attached and they don't want to be truly touched by Everton because they are just pure businessmen.

I might be being a little bit condescending or patronising myself but, until I see real actions, I'd much rather prefer not to hear words that I personally found very out of touch with how I'd personally describe Evertonians.

Incremental growth without significant expenditure or striving to win?

Kendall played with Harvey, but he didn't appoint him as his first team coach until he allegedly watched his reserve team playing and was supposedly impressed with his tactics.

When I think about the success Louie Walsh had on the X-Factor, creating both a boy band and a girl band, that both went on to smash America, out of a few contestants he had on the show, I often ask myself: Where is the real creative vision in professional football? 😂😭

We, all of us on TW and across the world, who bleed Evertonian blue, are the soul and the true owners of this club. By TFG recognizing that — the history, the joys, the pain of the past 30 years — and always keeping that front of mind, we will have a shot at success and trophies and future joy (and pain) along the way, if coupled with shrewd business decisions.

Yes, they have to earn our trust, which they haven’t done yet. But they haven’t yet fucked it up either. And that’s a start. With Moyes, a new stadium, a squad rebuild happening if a bit more slowly than some would like, exciting new players, the signing of ones we needed to keep. We’ve survived the awful Moshiri era and things are looking up. I don’t blindly trust anyone, certainly not billionaires, but I don’t think they’ve much put a foot wrong so far — except maybe not showing up for the last match at Goodison, but even that I could see the reasons for being in the background: To let the true guardians of the club lead the way.

I’m not sure what TFG could be saying right now that would make everyone happy or that would be very revealing. As such, I’m happy for them to not say much at all. This article came out only because it was an announcement about a new business structure and hire in place.

"What might that look like? Beeston suggests the success of FSG could be a road map. “One of the companies I oversaw by the end of my tenure was Fenway Sports Management, which was selling sponsorships for the Red Sox, NESN, Liverpool, Penguins, PGA Tour, Boston Common Golf. The more you can scale that, it doesn't sacrifice anything, because it drives incremental revenue.”

One example: Submarine advocacy group BuildSubmarines.com expanded a high-profile Red Sox sponsorship across more FSG properties, looping in RFK Racing to brand a car for NASCAR's New Hampshire race last year, for instance.

Another operational benefit can come from sharing technical and strategic resources among clubs. Friedkin recently bought Insight Sport, a London soccer sports tech business that is the first non-team asset housed in Pursuit Sports. While Insight's purchase price isn't publicly disclosed, the business is very profitable, pulling in revenue of £332,500 ($445,000) last year, about half of which was net profit, according to a financial disclosure filed in the U.K.

Beeston declined to discuss potential purchases in NHL, NBA, NFL or MLB, other than to note the family probably prefers control stakes compared to limited partner interests. “It would be silly to rule anything out, but our focus is more on areas we can control, because we intend to be the best operators,” he said, adding, “We got to prove it still.”

Of course, it's not always simple: AS Roma fans protested the American ownership this past season after the club won just three of its first 14 matches, falling to 15th in the Serie A table before recovering to close the season in fifth place. Similarly, Everton seemed destined for relegation after a poor start to the Premier League before finishing 13th, two slots better than the season before Friedkin bought the club.

Are you advocating Louis Walsh for DOF? Maybe that's who Moshiri wanted but ended up with Steve Walsh!

I just think the next 12 to 18 months are crucial, to give Moyes the opportunity to show that with investment this club is capable of challenging…

Maybe not for the title but he's got to be the guy who lays the foundations for the next man and, if we get that right next man, he could be the one who pushes us right to the top.

Look at Aston Villa, they were relegated not long ago, but the right appointments have shot them to the Champions League. When the right man is available we need to do everything to get them, even if that means sacking Moyes.

I'm not talking about an Ancelotti who is waiting for the call from the big clubs...

You could find all the outlets on the back of a stamp. I agree with Christine in her excellent post: the big worry is owning Roma as well.

Like Tom, he went back empty handed, apparently saying that Bill, wouldn’t be happy if Farhad, signed any players, without his knowledge 🤦‍♂️

I suppose I could also say that you are “nurturing my inner belief”, when you talk about Villa, David, because apart from appointing Steven Gerard, they have got a lot of things right, since they got back in the premier league in time for 2019/20 season.

Maybe they got very lucky with both the chip in the goal and hawk-eye, inexplicably helping to disallow a goal, which kept them up and relegated Bournemouth (I might be wrong?) but Villa, really impressed me at times last season, and definitely look like they are one of the better teams in the league, right now?

That's the type of "bar" I meant...

Nothing better than quick fire banter, although I suppose that’s another thing that needs nurturing, now that we live in the era of diversity and inclusion, which helps people take offence at almost everything🤷‍♂️

We should be looking at who we want to replace Moyes now, who is the man who would take us on a similar path ?
I'm not sure myself, but if I had several billion I'd know how the top 3 people were I'm the world and I'd be talking to them now !

Billions help, and sponsorships, commercial deals, bigger stadium & thousands more pints & pies at matches, but as Spurs have shown it won't get you nowhere unless you have success on the pitch.

Excited for the first time in a long time.
We spent 4m on a back up keeper !!
We are not selling to buy !
We are looking what we need to progress not what we need so survive !

Maybe it’s because of the things you wrote about in your last paragraph, because when it comes to football, I have always been big, on what some people might describe as being very minor details.

It’s only words, but id have much preferred it if Dave Beeston, would have spoke about total professionalism.

'Is this a qualification round or just a support group?'

Thought I'd change barman to barperson just in case...

"barperson"...you're losing us customers already!