The Friedkin Group

[Toddacelli]

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…

[Evertonfc15]

i thought i would never ever see that - what a beautiful christmas this is
wow

[Escalator]

Everton fans can dream again after years of drift under Moshiri
New owner has grand plans for club but must address future of manager Sean Dyche and learn from experiences with Roma

Paul Joyce, Northern Football Correspondent
It was Everton or no one.
When The Friedkin Group (TFG) considered becoming the Premier League's latest US owners, it did not see another team ripe for picking that boasted the same potential as the Merseyside club.
Not West Ham United or Wolverhampton Wanderers. Not Brentford or Brighton & Hove Albion for that matter.
A shimmering new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock, located on the banks of the River Mersey and which will be ready for the start of the 2025-26 season, was an obvious attraction given the
Everton manager Dyche, left, the new stadium, centre, and new owner Dan Friedkin

revenue-boosting spin-offs that can bring.
So, too, is the belief that once the club's finances are straightened out strides can be made towards infiltrating England's elite again, while recognition that Everton has a
loyal and passionate fan base was also perceived as a positive as a course to future success was plotted.
Now, after the completion of its takeover and the acquisition of Farhad Moshiri's 94.1 per cent stake, TFG must harness the power of all
those possibilities.
Headed by Dan Friedkin, the American businessman and film producer whose hobbies include flying aircraft, TFG initially backed out of a deal in July amid legal concerns arising from a court case involving one of Everton's previous suitors, 777 Partners/A-Cap.
It returned to the negotiating table in late September, doubts dispelled, to strike an incentivised deal with Moshiri and accelerated the buyout process within 48 hours by paying back £140million in loans to the club from MSP Sports Capital and local businessmen Andy Bell and George Downing. The writing of that cheque was immediate evidence of the resources at their disposal.
Friedkin, 59, had not initially intended to be seen as front and centre of his latest venture, as he has become, along with son Ryan, at one of the other football clubs in his empire, Roma. Yet his decision to assume the role of Everton chairman has been taken out of “respect” to the club and how seriously he is taking the purchase.
We strive to deliver extraordinary experiences that ignite people's passions,” he said in a statement.
However, this is very much TFG — which has more than 11,000 employees and boasted revenues of $13.3billion (about £10.5billion) in 2024 — taking charge of Everton, rather than a private family office.
With that should come new faces at the top of the organisation, which is something Moshiri failed to introduce when buying into Everton
in February 2016 and, according to sources, he now deeply regrets. Marc Watts, the president of TFG, will be Everton's executive chairman and Ana Dunkel, TFG's chief financial officer who is also on the board at Roma, is another prospective appointment, while Nolan Partners are looking to identify a new chief executive.
While it waited for takeover approval from the Premier League, the FA and the Financial Conduct
Authority, TFG discreetly dispatched representatives to Merseyside on a fact-finding mission to gain greater insight on how the club has been run.
Everton will no longer be subservient to an owner. A comparison with how Liverpool's owner, Fenway Sports Group, has empowered the chief executive Billy Hogan to run the club on a day-to-day basis, while remaining in the background itself, has been cited to The Times on more than one occasion.
After years of drift, Everton, who have effectively been without a board since June 2023, when the previous incumbents resigned, should benefit from direction again. That is crucial because there is plenty of scope for growth off the pitch at a club that has become overly reliant on the broadcasting deals negotiated by the Premier League to stimulate an improvement on it.
“If you wrote down the attributes of The Friedkin Group in terms of their business portfolio and what they have the capability of doing,
along with where Everton are just about to find themselves given the new stadium, then there are a lot of things that align — and that means this has a very strong chance of being successful,” said Neil Joyce, the chief executive of the CLV Group, a leading data and insights company for sport, media and entertainment.
That raises, he says, the possibility of a Netflix or Amazon documentary charting Everton's next steps — although the drama of recent seasons, on and off the pitch, would be hard to match — pop concerts to rival nearby Anfield, which staged a Taylor Swift gig in the summer, the prospect of hosting NFL games and also making sizable — and innovative — inroads into the US market.
“There are 83 million soccer fans in the US, larger than the whole of the UK population, and 36.5 million of those fans haven't picked a team,” Joyce said.
“Everton have strong stories around their history and the new stadium, and also have a very strong overlap with US footballers. You
have Tim Howard, Landon Donovan, Joe Max-Moore even, and TFG has powerful storytelling and content capabilities through Imperative Entertainment, which they own.
“Documentaries and podcasts is an area where we see huge opportunities for clubs in that it allows them to monetise their own content directly from the fans. We have already seen in our data sets that Everton have 200,000 fans in the US and 40 per cent of them earn more than $100,000 a year. Some 25 per cent of them are heavy digital content subscribers and engagers.
“They could generate the best part of £10million a year with a monthly subscription of just $3 from those fans. That is pretty much the same as the deal with their front-of-shirt sponsor at the moment, so you can immediately see some really interesting revenue opportunities.”
Everton believe that the move to Bramley-Moore Dock, which has a capacity of 52,888, could bring in an additional £40million in revenue per season. There will also be a
Everton have drifted during Moshiri's eight years at the helm of the club
PETER BYRNE/PA

significant reduction in the club's interest repayments, which had been about £60million towards the end of Moshiri's tenure, from a variety of lenders for the new stadium. They were weighing down the whole operation and talks have been taking place with JP Morgan Chase and Co to help restructure Everton's loans.
“The stadium was built using credit cards,” one source said. “Some of that will be converted into senior debt and more manageable
loans over a longer period which would be covered by the stadium if it becomes, as everyone thinks, a success.”
While Everton's financial health can be transformed, the key remains how wisely they spend the money so that there is overdue stability in the Premier League.
TFG may not have wanted to invest in Brentford, but becoming as consistent as that team would indicate progress. The night a deal was agreed with Moshiri, TFG's delight was immediately tempered by the knowledge that top-flight safety remains paramount.
The futures of the manager, Sean Dyche, and the director of football, Kevin Thelwell, who are both out of contract at the end of the season, will need to be addressed but not before the constraints under which they have been working are taken into account.
Everton are the only Premier League club with a net positive transfer balance since the summer of 2022 — Thelwell's first transfer window — with €173.8million (about £143million) spent and
€270.1million (about £222.3million) recouped. Top of the table are Sunday's opponents, Chelsea, who spent €1.3billion (about £1.07billion) in fees and brought in €544million (about £448million) over the same period.
Everton have not spent more than they have received in a transfer window since January 2023 and have only spent significant fees on players aged 25 or under in recent dealings. The constraints of the Premier League's Profitability and Sustainability Rules, Watts confirmed, would remain an issue in “the short term.”
Certainly, the turbulence TFG has encountered at Roma this year should highlight the importance of not rushing into any decisions and benefit Everton. Mistakes made elsewhere should have less chance of being repeated.
The Italians — coached at the time by José Mourinho — won the Europa Conference League in 2022 and reached the final of the Europa League the following season. Since then there has been a downturn in results, despite TFG's total
Everton have a history of signing American players, such as Donovan
PHIL NOBLE/REUTERS

investment to date being more than $1billion since buying the club in August 2020.
Roma lie 12th in Serie A, two points above the relegation zone. The appointment of the 73-year-old coach Claudio Ranieri last month was the fourth managerial change of the year after the sacking of Mourinho and the installation of fans' favourite Daniele De Rossi, who was soon replaced by Ivan Juric.
Protests from supporters had intensified, and outside Roma's Trigoria training ground last month a banner was left which read: “Presidents and directors, leave Roma, you are incompetent and unworthy!”
A fervent fan base viewed as a positive one day can call for widespread change the next. How the two clubs co-exist will be interesting.
“Everton and Roma are identical
clubs,” another source said. “Historic clubs with a fanatical fan base. They will be watching each other. If the Friedkins buy a player for Everton, Roma fans will say, 'Where is our player?'
“Other owners tend to have a big club supported by smaller ones. That is something they have to solve. No one has two clubs like that.”
As Everton fans envisage a new future the aforementioned banner would have struck a chord, a reminder of the marches they held against Moshiri's reign as mismanagement left the club anchored at the wrong end of the table and forced to sell players.
The British-Iranian businessman will write off £750million with the sale of Everton, and the amount he will receive from TFG is difficult to pinpoint. Less than £50million has changed hands directly between buyer and seller, though that could increase if the club's trajectory is positive.
Before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which resulted in Everton severing ties with a number of
Russian companies owned by Moshiri's former business partner Alisher Usmanov, he expected to make more than £1billion on the club he purchased eight years ago.
He seems remarkably sanguine, those close to him say, seeing Bramley-Moore Dock and the fact Everton have stayed in the top flight throughout his tenure as a positive legacy. Of the teams in the Premier League in 2015-16, ten suffered demotion in the seasons since.
Following the collapse of 777's bid and TFG's initial worries, Moshiri had wanted to sell to John Textor, a part-owner in Crystal Palace who also has interests in Lyon and Botafogo, the newly-crowned Copa Libertadores winners and Brazilian champions.
He saw him as a football obsessive, though the fact he did not possess the necessary finances was one of many stumbling blocks.
It speaks volumes that after what has been a tortuous saga of failed buyouts and false dawns over a number of years the hard work is only just beginning for Everton and TFG.investment to date being more than $1billion since buying the club in August 2020.
Roma lie 12th in Serie A, two points above the relegation zone. The appointment of the 73-year-old coach Claudio Ranieri last month was the fourth managerial change of the year after the sacking of Mourinho and the installation of fans' favourite Daniele De Rossi, who was soon replaced by Ivan Juric.
Protests from supporters had intensified, and outside Roma's Trigoria training ground last month a banner was left which read: “Presidents and directors, leave Roma, you are incompetent and unworthy!”
A fervent fan base viewed as a positive one day can call for widespread change the next. How the two clubs co-exist will be interesting.
“Everton and Roma are identical
clubs,” another source said. “Historic clubs with a fanatical fan base. They will be watching each other. If the Friedkins buy a player for Everton, Roma fans will say, 'Where is our player?'
“Other owners tend to have a big club supported by smaller ones. That is something they have to solve. No one has two clubs like that.”
As Everton fans envisage a new future the aforementioned banner would have struck a chord, a reminder of the marches they held against Moshiri's reign as mismanagement left the club anchored at the wrong end of the table and forced to sell players.
The British-Iranian businessman will write off £750million with the sale of Everton, and the amount he will receive from TFG is difficult to pinpoint. Less than £50million has changed hands directly between buyer and seller, though that could increase if the club's trajectory is positive.
Before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which resulted in Everton severing ties with a number of
Russian companies owned by Moshiri's former business partner Alisher Usmanov, he expected to make more than £1billion on the club he purchased eight years ago.
He seems remarkably sanguine, those close to him say, seeing Bramley-Moore Dock and the fact Everton have stayed in the top flight throughout his tenure as a positive legacy. Of the teams in the Premier League in 2015-16, ten suffered demotion in the seasons since.
Following the collapse of 777's bid and TFG's initial worries, Moshiri had wanted to sell to John Textor, a part-owner in Crystal Palace who also has interests in Lyon and Botafogo, the newly-crowned Copa Libertadores winners and Brazilian champions.
He saw him as a football obsessive, though the fact he did not possess the necessary finances was one of many stumbling blocks.
It speaks volumes that after what has been a tortuous saga of failed buyouts and false dawns over a number of years the hard work is only just beginning for Everton and investment to date being more than $1billion since buying the club in August 2020.
Roma lie 12th in Serie A, two points above the relegation zone. The appointment of the 73-year-old coach Claudio Ranieri last month was the fourth managerial change of the year after the sacking of Mourinho and the installation of fans' favourite Daniele De Rossi, who was soon replaced by Ivan Juric.
Protests from supporters had intensified, and outside Roma's Trigoria training ground last month a banner was left which read: “Presidents and directors, leave Roma, you are incompetent and unworthy!”
A fervent fan base viewed as a positive one day can call for widespread change the next. How the two clubs co-exist will be interesting.
“Everton and Roma are identical
clubs,” another source said. “Historic clubs with a fanatical fan base. They will be watching each other. If the Friedkins buy a player for Everton, Roma fans will say, 'Where is our player?'
“Other owners tend to have a big club supported by smaller ones. That is something they have to solve. No one has two clubs like that.”
As Everton fans envisage a new future the aforementioned banner would have struck a chord, a reminder of the marches they held against Moshiri's reign as mismanagement left the club anchored at the wrong end of the table and forced to sell players.
The British-Iranian businessman will write off £750million with the sale of Everton, and the amount he will receive from TFG is difficult to pinpoint. Less than £50million has changed hands directly between buyer and seller, though that could increase if the club's trajectory is positive.
Before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which resulted in Everton severing ties with a number of
Russian companies owned by Moshiri's former business partner Alisher Usmanov, he expected to make more than £1billion on the club he purchased eight years ago.
He seems remarkably sanguine, those close to him say, seeing Bramley-Moore Dock and the fact Everton have stayed in the top flight throughout his tenure as a positive legacy. Of the teams in the Premier League in 2015-16, ten suffered demotion in the seasons since.
Following the collapse of 777's bid and TFG's initial worries, Moshiri had wanted to sell to John Textor, a part-owner in Crystal Palace who also has interests in Lyon and Botafogo, the newly-crowned Copa Libertadores winners and Brazilian champions.
He saw him as a football obsessive, though the fact he did not possess the necessary finances was one of many stumbling blocks.
It speaks volumes that after what has been a tortuous saga of failed buyouts and false dawns over a number of years the hard work is only just beginning for Everton and

[sam of the south]

Got a bit madcap at the end, but cheers for the copy & paste efforts, ESCLA

[Bluedylan1]

https://inews.co.uk/sport/football/ever ... nd-3441129

Dan Friedkin believes he has got an “absolutely astounding deal” in buying Everton – a Premier League club with rich heritage and huge potential to improve – for south of £40m.

Given the going rate for buying into the top flight’s owners’ club, he might well have a point.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe, remember, paid £1.25bn for just 27 per cent of Manchester United a year ago, while Bill Foley’s takeover of Bournemouth was three times what the Texan billionaire has spent to acquire Everton through Roundhouse Capital Holdings, the Friedkin Group (TFG) entity which now owns 98 per cent of the club.

If it is a good deal for Friedkin, it is an even better one for Everton.

Make no mistake, until this deal was concluded the Toffees were heading straight for a financial iceberg.

A series of high interest, short-term loans were crippling the club, with insiders estimating repayments to be around £1m a week.

That was, to be blunt, unsustainable.

One insider likened it to “running a football club on payday loans”.

The Friedkins have changed that in an instant.

While sources say work remains “ongoing” on restructuring some of those debts, the £225m debt owed to Rights and Media Funding has now been paid off in full while the A-Cap loan, a hangover from the ill-fated 777 Partners bid, has also been “boxed off”.

Farhad Moshiri’s shareholder loans have disappeared completely and the Friedkins are on the verge of “reverse engineering” the stadium financing – with a deal lined up with a blue chip lender that was unavailable to Everton when the project was launched because of their perilous financial position.

Any debt moving forward will be “long-term” and at “very favourable” rates.

And what that means for the club itself is that things are only going to get brighter in the immediate future, with the Friedkins’ “deal of the century” to buy the club allowing “substantial headroom” to invest in Everton moving forward.

If the club was being sustained on payday loans they now have a “sensible mortgage” – along with a gleaming new stadium which will increase matchday revenue by three times and help them navigate the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR).

The big spending will have to wait – they hope to recruit in January but there are PSR challenges that may limit ambition – but from the summer that “virtually disappears”, one insider says.

The Friedkins are committed to strengthening the first team and any clubs expecting a cheap deal on Jarrad Branthwaite can forget it.

Sean Dyche and Kevin Thelwell are being backed too, for now, with first proper meetings planned on Friday with the key football figures.

While the director of football has brighter long-term prospects – indeed he is set to remain, with football executives added alongside him – Dyche’s future still feels uncertain.

The Friedkins are wary of instability in the short-term and will be supportive but he still doesn’t look like the right fit and a clean break might be better in the summer, provided safety has been secured.

Whoever is manager, they can expect a very different outlook from the one Dyche has been used to.

Strategic, data-led recruitment is the expectation but “significant funds” will be allocated for new signings to ensure Everton no longer scrap at the bottom of the table.

The huge churn of out-of-contract players – 13 are set to leave in the summer – gives them an opportunity for the “rebuild of the decade”.

Given the mood music around the club has felt so dire for so long, it should also be noted that TFG’s decision to retain Colin Chong as interim CEO is a show of faith in the current administration, who have been working with one hand tied behind their backs.

It is understood that the deeper TFG’s conversations with those working day-to-day at Everton have gone, the more impressed they have been with those who have manned the fort while the club have navigated such choppy waters.

That also gives Everton time and space to make a permanent CEO appointment, with that role seen by the new owners as “absolutely crucial” moving forward.

While the Friedkins are high-profile they do not intend to follow Moshiri’s bizarre penchant for off-the-cuff statements or set-piece interviews with journalists.

No interviews are planned and they will not be at the Chelsea game on Sunday; instead a delegation from the Friedkin Group led by Marc Watts will be there.

“They are all about action rather than words,” one insider says.

“But the CEO will be the main point of communication and will be expected to communicate with fans.

“They want that transparency and communication.”

Work on sourcing a “high calibre” candidate is ongoing, it is understood, with Nolan Partners running the search.

In the meantime Watts, a Harvard-educated lawyer who is the president of the Friedkin Group, takes over as executive chairman.

He is described as a “trusted partner, confidante and ally” of Friedkin while Ana Dunkel, chief financial officer at TFG, adds further heft to a board that will be headed up by Friedkin himself.

It is a far cry from the ad hoc stewardship of the unpredictable Moshiri, who arrived with big promises and turned out to be far from what was written on the brochure.

He could be forgiven for some of his misjudgements – the Friedkins know from Roma how managerial appointments can unravel – but saddling the proud institution he owned to 777 Partners last year was unforgivable considering the pressing issues around their business model.

It nearly proved ruinous until the Friedkins intervened.

Out of that mess, Everton can now rise and look to a brighter future under committed, professional and strategic owners.

[Trowel]

Interesting to see something like this already: https://www.friedkin.com/gulf-states-toyota/

[Cozzie]

[superpull]

Surprising lack of a cynical cash-grab from the club in the gift shop.

Went in expecting 1001 things to buy with "goodbye Goodison" vibes.

Nada

[blueToffee]

Surprising lack of a cynical cash-grab from the club in the gift shop.

Went in expecting 1001 things to buy with "goodbye Goodison" vibes.

Nada

Perhaps I'm being biased, but it feels like there has been barely a whisper about us leaving Goodison Park in the media/commentary.

When West Ham were leaving Upton Park, sorry the "Boleyn Ground" as it suddenly became it felt like it was mentioned incessantly.

[Risky]

Feeling more positive than I have for maybe 3 years or so at the moment. It feels like despite the pitfalls such as 777, we've ended up in the best place we could have ended up and that we're set for stability just as we move in to the new stadium.

Just got to get through till the end of the season still in the PL, and then between the new stadium, new ownership and PSL improvement then this could be the first summer in a while where we can be excited about the future. It's not going to change overnight but it feels like it might be possible to enjoy supporting Everton again soon.

[Escalator]

Perhaps I'm being biased, but it feels like there has been barely a whisper about us leaving Goodison Park in the media/commentary.

When West Ham were leaving Upton Park, sorry the "Boleyn Ground" as it suddenly became it felt like it was mentioned incessantly.

Well we’re not leaving for seven months yet, there’ll be enough of the sentimental crap nearer the time. Personally I think the focus on our new stadium is more important than banging on about a soon to be demolished building.

[superpull]

Well we’re not leaving for seven months yet, there’ll be enough of the sentimental crap nearer the time. Personally I think the focus on our new stadium is more important than banging on about a soon to be demolished building.

Wasn't much celebrating that in there either.

[Paddockoldie]

Well we’re not leaving for seven months yet, there’ll be enough of the sentimental crap nearer the time. Personally I think the focus on our new stadium is more important than banging on about a soon to be demolished building.

Not sure how long you've been a blue lad, but many of us have lived our lives in that building, feeling that sentimental crap in our bones.

[Escalator]

Not sure how long you've been a blue lad, but many of us have lived our lives in that building, feeling that sentimental crap in our bones.

Since 1967 lad, ST holder in upper Gwladys, just the one shitter in the middle of the concourse that has been getting a coat of paint every year for tge last 100 yars, chronic congestion at what they might call catering outlet to get a piss warm Carling in a plastic bottle and a selection of either a sausage roll or a pie,, 12 inch gap in rows between plastic seats, I’m not going to shed a tear mate when I get my seat in Club Vision.

[Bob Sacamano]

Calm down