New York Jets owner Woody Johnson interested in buying English Premier League club Chelsea

New York Jets operator Robert “Woody” Johnson is readying a bid for Chelsea in the English Premier League, according to sources close to the predicament.

Johnson currently has spoken to Raine Group, which is organizing the bid approach, for every sources, and he now is vying to develop into the latest NFL operator to get into the Premier League.

There are natural synergies with both equally businesses as the Jets ended up just awarded promoting rights to the NFL’s U.K. International House Advertising Regions program. New York and London are sister metropolitan areas, culturally and economically.

Johnson is regarded to be very proficient of the Chelsea club and the Leading League, owning lived in London, the place he served as the United States’ ambassador.

Whilst there, Johnson is reported to have turn into a admirer of the corporation and its supporters, and he is informed of the crucial function the Premier League plays all through the United Kingdom.

There currently are a number of NFL homeowners who individual English Premier League groups: Los Angeles Rams operator Stan Kroenke and Arsenal, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Glazer relatives and Manchester United, and the San Francisco 49ers’ owner Jed York has a minority stake in Leeds United. Fulham, which prospects the Championship table and is primed for a advertising again into England’s top league, is owned by Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan.

Chelsea is now owned by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, whose conclusion to market the club has seemingly been motivated by mounting tension on the U.K. governing administration to seize the property of substantial-benefit Russian persons with links to Russia President Vladimir Putin’s routine after the country’s invasion of Ukraine. Abramovich has constantly denied any ties to Putin.

Sources have advised ESPN’s James Olley that Abramovich is trying to get close to £3 billion ($3.93 billion) for the club. Chelsea, which won the UEFA Champions League previous year as Europe’s major club team, is in third place in the Premier League.