Everton sell women's team to parent company
Everton are the third Premier League club to sell their women's team to navigate the Premier League's financial rules.Chelsea sold their women's team to parent company BlueCo for nearly £200m in June 2024. Subsequently, the team attracted the attention of Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian, who purchased an 8-10% minority stake in May.Aston Villa sold its women's team to holding company V Sports in June.In 2024-25, Everton finished eighth in the Women's Super League, reached the fifth round of the Women's FA Cup, and exited in the group stage of the Women's League Cup.
'An opportunity for more money to come into the women's team'
Everton have transferred ownership of the women's team to a separate part of the Friedkin Group empire, which is still under the broad control of Everton. It's a sideways move.It's an investment opportunity. We've seen the fantastic success of the Lionesses. We're seeing, especially in the United States, a huge interest in the women's game. Therefore, you can now sell part of the women's team and keep control of the men's. It's setting up the business to perhaps be more profitable going forward.It's within the rules. We saw similar take place with Chelsea and Aston Villa. The women's team at Everton has control of Goodison Park, so that would make it an attractive all-in proposition.It is positive news because it means there is the opportunity for more money to come into the women's team from a minority investor. There wasn't enough attention given to the women's team under the old ownership group.If you get the surroundings right, if you get the pricing right, you can attract a new type of fanbase and a different demographic. You can go to sponsors and partners and say, "we are the women's team, we are different from the men's team, and you can benefit from that."There are huge opportunities here and there's a feel-good factor following the Euros final on Sunday and I think it's the right time to capitalise on that.
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