Fenway Sports Group

Fenway Sports Group
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)
Divisions Fenway Sports Management
Fenway Sports Group Real Estate
Subsidiaries Boston Red Sox
Liverpool F.C.
Fenway Park
Anfield
Roush Fenway Racing (50%)
Pawtucket Red Sox (10%)
Salem Red Sox
Fenway Sports Management
New England Sports Network (80%)
Fenway Theater
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 Football Club, 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.[1]

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 (current as of 2018 season) in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series racing competitions.

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".[2]

History

New England Sports Ventures, LLC, was incorporated in Delaware in 2001. The company registered to do business in Massachusetts in the same year.[3]

Properties

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 1918, 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 three 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 Way, 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.[4]

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 teams in the Sprint Cup and Xfinity Series, and formerly in the Camping World Truck Series 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.[5]

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[6] and as of 2014 counts the Red Sox, Liverpool F.C., LeBron James,[7] Johnny Manziel,[8] BC, Roush Fenway Racing, MLB.com, the PGA Tour's Deutsche Bank Championship, NESN, the Pawtucket 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., supposedly due to the old quirky heritage of Craven Cottage like Fenway; on the October 6, 2010, FSG agreed to buy Liverpool F.C.[5] from owners George N. Gillett, Jr. and Tom Hicks, after the board voted 3-2 to oust them from the club.[9][10][11][12] It purchased through subsidiary, "N.E.S.V. I, LLC" (incorporated in Delaware) and UK based holding company "UKSV Holdings Company Limited".

Anfield

Anfield is a soccer 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 Roanoke Valley-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.

Partners

John W. Henry is the principal owner, holding an estimated 40 percent of stock in FSG. Boston-based asset manager Michael Gordon, a former partner of Jeffrey Vinik and president of FSG, holds 12 percent.[13] No other shareholder owns more than ten percent.[14]

The Boston Red Sox listed the following partners in Fenway Sports Group, LLC, in March 2018:[15]

Ed Weiss was listed as executive vice president/corporate strategy and general counsel, with former United States Senator George J. Mitchell of Maine serving as senior adviser.[15] In addition, former Red Sox star David Ortiz was named special assistant to FSG in September 2017.[15]

References

  1. ↑ "NESV becomes Fenway Sports Group". 22 March 2011.
  2. ↑ "Red Sox Nation Goes Global". 31 March 2019.
  3. ↑ Corporations Division, Massachusetts
  4. ↑ "Tiger Stadium opened 100 years ago just like Fenway Park, but it's ignored in Detroit".
  5. 1 2 "The 10 Most Innovative Companies in Sports". Fast Company. Mansueto Ventures LLC. March 14, 2011. Retrieved 2011-04-07.
  6. ↑ "Sponsorships at Boston College". BCEagles.com. Archived from the original on 2014-02-10. Retrieved 2014-02-21.
  7. ↑ "Basketball star LeBron James in deal with Fenway Sports". The Wall Street Journal. 2011-04-07. Retrieved 2014-02-21.
  8. ↑ "Fenway Sports Management to represent "Johnny Football"". The Boston Globe. 2014-01-15. Retrieved 2014-02-21.
  9. ↑ https://www.reuters.com/article/idUS122566+19-Oct-2009+BW20091019
  10. ↑ Garrahan, Matthew (19 October 2009). "Fulham strike deal with Red Sox" – via Financial Times.
  11. ↑ "Fulham Football Club Selects Fenway Sports Group as Exclusive North American Agency - Business Wire".
  12. ↑ "Liverpool board agree sale of club". BBC Sport. October 6, 2010. s
  13. 1 2 "Michael Gordon plays private but powerful role with Red Sox - The Boston Globe".
  14. ↑ "Directors - Liverpool FC". Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  15. 1 2 3 Gregg, Kevin; Murphy, Abby; Long, Justin (2018). Boston Red Sox 2018 Media Guide. Boston, Massachusetts: Boston Red Sox Media Relations Department. p. 21, 51.
  16. ↑ Also the VP of "UKSV Holdings Company Limited", the intermediate holding company of Liverpool FC
  17. ↑ "Henry: Lucchino's Sox role not diminishing".
  • Boston Red Sox 2010 Media Guide, page 9
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