The Glazers family, the current owners of Manchester United, are willing to sell the football club. In response, two interested parties are near meeting American billionaires’ demands. The first is the UK”s richest man and owner of INEOs, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, with whom even Lewis Hamilton wants to ally in his bid.
The other party is the Qatari fund that seeks to own the command of the most popular club in the world and is leading the race with the gigantic $5.5 billion bid. The amount, if accepted, would become the most expensive franchise takeover ever since the Walton-Penner group bought Denver Broncos last year.
However, a recent update by Simon Stone reveals Ratcliffe is orchestrating his comeback in the race. The British billionaire plans to outbid Qatar right before the deadline with an improved offer. Hence, reigniting Hamilton‘s interest in owning a stake in Manchester United.
Why is Lewis Hamilton interested in Manchester United?
The seven-time world champion has recently shown interest in purchasing minority stakes in several sports franchises. In 2022, he successfully purchased Denver Broncos, which is the biggest sports franchise takeover ever.
He claims that he has hardly seen black ownership in prominent sports teams in his entire career as an athlete. Therefore, it’s his special interest to change that and bring in diversity even in the ownership of some of the biggest franchises.
But in Manchester United’s case, the time is running out, as the bid by Ratcliffe hasn’t been made official, and the deadline for the second round is on the verge of passing.
Loyalty, as an Arsenal fan, questioned
Hamilton has repeatedly claimed that he supports the Premier League side Arsenal. While he would be happy to see his team climbing on the verge of a title success almost after two decades, he is showing no hesitance in financially owning their rivals.
Before Manchester United, Hamilton was also interested in getting a stake in Chelsea. For those who don’t know, Arsenal and Chelsea are from London and are fierce rivals. Thus, it’s almost blasphemous for an Arsenal fan to be even associated with Chelsea, to the least.
However, when it comes to being a financially driven link, Hamilton can keep the emotions aside. He joined Sir Martin Broughton’s consortium along with Serena Williams to own a minority stake. Though, their combined bid was beaten by Todd Boehly, an American businessman.
