Why are billionaires investing in the Premier League?

**Rahul** (0:01)
Is Jeff Bezos about to invest in Liverpool Football Club?

**SPEAKER_2** (0:04)
How can the guy that created Amazon not give you something that tells you how to market your business to the world?

**Rupa Vyas** (0:08)
I think Bezos' entire business empire has faced so much criticism over things like workers' rights.

**Rahul** (0:14)
It's World Business Report from the BBC World Service. I'm Rahul, so why are so many Americans keen to invest in the Premier League? We're going to find out and look at why the valuation of the Chinese fast fashion giant, Shein, is tumbling.
Shall we start the program with a question? How much is the Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, worth? Take a second, have a guess. Well, we'll give you the answer. Now, according to Forbes magazine, he's worth around 192 billion pounds. That makes him the fourth richest person on this planet. So he has lots of money to spend, apart from his 8% stake in Amazon. The businessman also owns the Washington Post and the aerospace company Blue Origin. But for a while, he's been looking at opportunities in the world of sport. And now a consortium, including Mr. Bezos, there are others involved in it as well, is in talks to buy about a 30% stake in Liverpool Football Club. And some Liverpool fans are pretty happy.

**SPEAKER_2** (1:19)
What we need to get is we need to glean the business experience these guys bring. Because if you want to increase your revenue, you've got to increase your opportunities off the pitch. How can the guy that created Amazon not give you something that tells you how to market your business to the world? Sponsorship, commercial opportunities. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely.

**Austin Sochuk** (1:35)
That's the only way that it helps.

**SPEAKER_2** (1:37)
So if someone like a Bezos can come in and his team can give you or give the FSG ways to go out and market the football club in the world and arrival Manchester City for spending capability, then that's got to be the positive.

**Rahul** (1:50)
You can hear a lot of that FSG group. They're part of the fan. We group their own Liverpool at the moment. So those fans were happy. Not everyone agrees. Rupa Vyas is a Liverpool fan and the ambassador of her game too.

**Rupa Vyas** (2:03)
I don't know what it means to bring in another billionaire investor into our club. Does it actually change anything for the club? You know, as fans, we've gone through a lot with our owners, even just in the last season or so protesting against them. Ultimately, you know, I just want to know what this means for us. And also, whether FSG are happy with, I guess, the moral implications of bringing someone like Bezos in.

**Rahul** (2:24)
You're talking about the Fenway Group there, aren't you? Football has changed, hasn't it now? It is a game, it is a business as well, that involves lots of money. So what are your main reservations about Jeff Bezos in particular coming in? Because he brings in a lot of money which the club needs.

**Rupa Vyas** (2:39)
FSG have obviously, they've done some good stuff for the club, but then over the years, we've seen how that's shifted. As you mentioned, obviously, football becoming a lot more of a commercial asset. I mentioned, obviously, last season, protests about ticket prices against the owners. And I think fans are going to feel those same reservations with someone like Bezos coming in.

**Rahul** (2:56)
Is Jeff Bezos even more different because he is so, so wealthy?

**Rupa Vyas** (3:00)
I think so, yeah. I think Liverpool as a football club, we talk a lot about community, equality, inclusion and solidarity, and being a club for everyone, and we pride ourselves on that as fans as well. I think Bezos, his entire business empire, has faced so much criticism over things like workers rights, over things like his political influence as well, and he's not a character that aligns with Liverpool Football Club. I'm not saying that everyone who invests in our club is going to be morally perfect. I think that's really unrealistic, because I don't think there's many wealthy people that do align with our club, but I think that's where the reservations come from. You know, the money would be great, but I don't think we can be that greedy if we're going to lose the soul of our football club.

**Rahul** (3:36)
There will be many fans who will agree with what you say, but there will be others who say, look, football is going down a different path now. If you're not on that path, you get left behind. If Liverpool don't take the money that's on offer, somebody else will, and Liverpool Football Club will slip down that league. There's no choice but to take the money.