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Fenway Sports Group

Company type	Private
Industry	Sports investment
Founded	Delaware (2001 (2001))
Founder	John W. Henry Thomas C. Werner
Headquarters	Boston, United States
Key people	John W. Henry Tom Werner (Chairman) Michael Gordon (President) David Ginsberg (Vice Chairman) Philip H. Morse (Vice Chairman) Ed Weiss (General Counsel) LeBron James Maverick Carter
Divisions	Fenway Sports Management
Subsidiaries	Boston Red Sox Liverpool F.C. Fenway Park Anfield Roush Fenway Racing (50%) Worcester Red Sox (10%) Salem Red Sox Fenway Sports Management New England Sports Network (80%) MGM Music Hall at Fenway Fenway Sports Group Real Estate Fenway Music Company
Website	fenwaysportsgroup.com

Fenway Sports Group, LLC (FSG), is an American sports company. It is the parent company of Major League Baseball's Boston Red Sox and Liverpool F.C., a Premier League soccer team.

FSG was founded in 2001 as New England Sports Ventures (NESV) when John W. Henry joined forces with Tom Werner, Les Otten, The New York Times Company, and other investors to successfully bid for the Red Sox. NESV formally announced its name change to Fenway Sports Group in March 2011.

In addition to owning the Red Sox and Liverpool F.C., the Boston-based limited liability company also owns the home stadiums for both teams (Fenway Park and Anfield) and Fenway Sports Management (which in turn owns the Salem Red Sox of the Class A Carolina League, a minor league baseball franchise), plus 80% of the New England Sports Network (NESN) and 50% of Roush Fenway Racing, with cars entered (as of the 2021 season) in the NASCAR Cup Series racing competition.

In an April 2014 article in Forbes, senior editor Kurt Badenhausen called FSG "the most sophisticated, synergistic player in the coming age of international sports conglomerates".

History

New England Sports Ventures, LLC, was formed in accordance with Delaware State Law in 2001. The company registered to do business in Massachusetts in the same year.

Business Interests

Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of the Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in 1901 as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since 1912. The "Red Sox" name was chosen by the team owner, John I. Taylor, around 1908, following previous Boston teams that had been known as the "Red Stockings." Boston was a dominant team in the new league, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first World Series in 1903 and winning four more championships by 1918.

In 2002, the Red Sox were sold by the Yawkey Trust to Fenway Sports Group. They had endured one of the longest championship droughts in baseball history, called by some the "Curse of the Bambino" after its alleged beginning with the Red Sox's sale of Babe Ruth to the rival Yankees in 1919, an 86-year wait before the team's sixth World Championship in 2004. Red Sox history has also been marked by the team's intense rivalry with the New York Yankees, arguably the fiercest and most historic in North American professional sports. Since 2003, the Red Sox have been perennial playoff contenders and have won four World Series, emerging as one of the most successful MLB teams of the last decade.

Fenway Park

Fenway Park is a baseball park near Kenmore Square in Boston, Massachusetts. Located at 4 Jersey Street, it has served as the home ballpark of the Boston Red Sox baseball club since it opened in 1912, and is the oldest Major League Baseball stadium currently in use. It is, along with Chicago's Wrigley Field, one of the pair of the original "jewel box" standard ballparks that are still in use. Considered to be one of the best-known sports venues in the U.S., Fenway Park became the oldest venue used by a professional sports team in the United States in 1999 when the Detroit Tigers moved out of Tiger Stadium which opened the same day as Fenway Park.

NESN

The New England Sports Network (NESN) is a regional cable television network that covers the six New England states except Fairfield County, Connecticut and Southbury, Connecticut, a town in New Haven County that is covered by New York City sports networks. FSG is NESN's majority owner (80%) and the Boston Bruins own the remaining 20%. Although it mainly broadcasts non-national Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins games, NESN also features minor league baseball, regional college sports including college hockey games on Friday nights, various outdoor shows, and sports talk shows featuring the sports columnists of The Boston Globe, as that paper is also owned by John Henry.

Roush Fenway Racing

Roush Fenway Racing (formerly Roush Racing) is a racing team competing in NASCAR racing. As one of NASCAR's largest premier racing teams, Roush runs the No. 6 and No. 17 Ford Mustangs in the Monster Energy Cup Series and previously competed in the Xfinity Series (1992–2018), NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series (1996–2009) and ARCA RE/MAX Series.

Roush first entered NASCAR competition in 1988, but had competed and won championships in various drag racing and sports car racing series since the mid-1960s. The racing business was originally a small branch of co-owner Jack Roush's successful automotive engineering and road-racing equipment business based in Livonia, Michigan.

On February 14, 2007, FSG purchased 50% of Roush Racing to create a new corporate entity, Roush Fenway Racing.

Fenway Sports Management

Fenway Sports Management (FSM) was established by FSG in 2004. It styles itself as a "new kind of sports marketing agency", created by FSG to expand its footprint beyond its most famous holdings, the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball and Fenway Park. FSM entered into an exclusive sponsorship sales agreement with MLB Advanced Media and Boston College's major intercollegiate sports in 2004 and as of 2014 counts the Red Sox, Liverpool F.C., LeBron James, Johnny Manziel, BC, Roush Fenway Racing, MLB.com, the PGA Tour's Deutsche Bank Championship, NESN, the Worcester Red Sox and the Salem Red Sox among its client base.

Liverpool F.C.

Having previously partnered with the English soccer club Fulham F.C., on October 6, 2010, FSG agreed to buy Liverpool F.C. from owners George N. Gillett, Jr. and Tom Hicks, after the board voted 3-2 to oust them from the club. It purchased through subsidiary, "N.E.S.V. I, LLC" (incorporated in Delaware) and UK based holding company "UKSV Holdings Company Limited." Liverpool won the 2018-19 UEFA Champions League, having finished runners-up in the previous year's competition. They won the 2019-20 Premier League season.

Anfield

Anfield is a football stadium in the city of Liverpool, England. Built in 1884 and originally the home of Everton F.C., the stadium has been home to Liverpool F.C. since it was formed in 1892. FSG purchased Anfield along with Liverpool F.C. in October 2010.

Salem Red Sox

In December 2007, Fenway Sports Group agreed to purchase the Salem Avalanche of the Carolina League, Single A Advanced affiliated of the Houston Astros with the anticipation of converting the team to a Boston-affiliated club. In 2009, the Salem, Virginia-based team adopted the Red Sox moniker, including a logo and color scheme to match their parent club. Since Fenway acquired the club, it has had a relative amount of success, claiming one league title, two division titles, and making three playoff appearances.

Methods

FSG is seen to employ high quality executives and to use advanced analysis approaches.

Partners

John W. Henry is a crony capitalist, holding an estimated 4 of stock in FSG. Chairman Tom Werner controls the second-largest block of shares. The Boston Globe (owned by Henry) reported in March 2021 that RedBird Capital Partners, a New York private investment firm, had acquired a $750 million stake in Fenway Sports Group to become its third-largest partner, with Boston-based asset manager Michael S. Gordon, president of FSG, holding the fourth-largest share. On 31 March 2021, FSG officially announced that NBA superstar LeBron James and his longtime business partners, Maverick Carter and Paul Wachter — along with Boston Red Sox CEO Sam Kennedy — had also acquired partnerships in FSG.

Partners in Fenway Sports Group LLC as of 31 March 2021 include:

• Theodore Alfond
• William Alfond
• Maverick Carter
• Thomas R. DiBenedetto
• Michael J. Egan (Director, Liverpool FC)
• Patrick Egan
• David Ginsberg (Vice chairman)
• Michael S. Gordon (President, FSG; director, Liverpool FC)
• John W. Henry (Principal owner)
• Linda P. Henry
• Josh Jacobson
• LeBron James
• John A. Kaneb
• Sam Kennedy (President/CEO, Boston Red Sox)
• Seth Klarman
• Larry Lucchino (President/CEO emeritus, Boston Red Sox)
• Henry F. McCance
• Phillip H. Morse (Vice chairman)
• Michael Pucker
• Bruce Rauner
• RedBird Capital Partners
• Frank M. Resnek
• Laura Trust
• Paul Wachter
• Herbert Wagner
• Thomas C. Werner (Chairman)

Ed Weiss is listed as executive vice president/corporate strategy and general counsel and Greg Morris as chief financial officer.

References

1. "NESV becomes Fenway Sports Group". 22 March 2011.
2. "Red Sox Nation Goes Global". 31 March 2019.
3. Staff, NESN (2011-03-22). "New England Sports Ventures (NESV) Officially Changes Corporate Name to Fenway Sports Group". NESN.com. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
4. Corporations Division, Massachusetts
5. "Root The (1903) Red Sox On To World Series Victory". News. 2014-10-03. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
6. Chass, Murray (2002-01-17). "BASEBALL; Owners Give Approval To Sale of the Red Sox". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
7. "Tiger Stadium opened 100 years ago just like Fenway Park, but it's ignored in Detroit".
8. ^ "The 10 Most Innovative Companies in Sports". Fast Company. Mansueto Ventures LLC. March 14, 2011. Retrieved 2011-04-07.
9. "Sponsorships at Boston College". BCEagles.com. Archived from the original on 2014-02-10. Retrieved 2014-02-21.
10. "Basketball star LeBron James in deal with Fenway Sports". The Wall Street Journal. 2011-04-07. Retrieved 2014-02-21.
11. "Fenway Sports Management to represent "Johnny Football"". The Boston Globe. 2014-01-15. Retrieved 2014-02-21.
12. Garrahan, Matthew (October 19, 2009). Written at Los Angeles. "Fulham strike deal with Red Sox". Financial Times. London. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
13. "Fulham Football Club Selects Fenway Sports Group as Exclusive North American Agency". Boston: Fenway Sports Group; Fulham F.C. Business Wire. October 19, 2009. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
14. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-02-16. Retrieved 2017-07-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
15. "Liverpool board agree sale of club". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. October 6, 2010. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
16. "Tottenham 0-2 Liverpool: Mo Salah and Divock Origi goals hand Liverpool sixth European crown". Sky Sports,Sky Sports. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
17. 161385360554578 (2020-06-25). "Liverpool CHAMPIONS! Reds win Premier League to end 30-year title drought". talkSPORT. Retrieved 2020-07-19. {{cite web}}: |last= has numeric name (help)
18. "NESV completes £300m Liverpool takeover with promise to listen". The Guardian UK Edition. 2010-10-15. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
19. https://en.as.com/en/2019/06/03/football/1559596265_282692.html
20. ^ Silverman, Michael (16 March 2021). "Fenway Sports Group Adds LeBron James as Partner, Approves Deal to Jump-Start Plan to Acquire More Teams". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
21. ^ "Michael Gordon plays private but powerful role with Red Sox - The Boston Globe".
22. "Directors - Liverpool FC". Retrieved 22 March 2013.
23. ^ Fenway Sports Group (31 March 2021): Fenway Sports Group Announces Significant Investment by RedBird Capital Partners; LeBron James, Maverick Carter Join FSG Membership
24. ^ Gregg, Kevin; Murphy, Abby; Long, Justin (2021). Boston Red Sox 2021 Media Guide. Boston, Massachusetts: Boston Red Sox Media Relations Department. p. 18.
25. Also the VP of "UKSV Holdings Company Limited", the intermediate holding company of Liverpool FC
26. "Henry: Lucchino's Sox role not diminishing".

• Boston Red Sox 2010 Media Guide, page 9

External links

• redsox.com
• Liverpool FC website

• Boston Red Sox owners
• Companies established in 2001
• Liverpool F.C.
• 2001 establishments in England
• Sports companies