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Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is in London to ‘purchase Tottenham’ as takeover saga evolves

Adam Williams

Wed 4 December 2024 6:00, UK Updated Wed 4 December 2024 10:31, UK

The worst kept secret in football finance for some time has been that Tottenham Hotspur are for sale, with Daniel Levy only going public with the search for fresh investment in April.

From ENIC and Levy’s ♔perspective, they have long been open to negotiations if the price is right, although the mood music in North London has always been that a minority investment is the likeliest option.

𝄹Amanda Staveley has been strongly linked with investing in Spurs💖, with the former Newcastle United supremo having assembled a consortium and raised around £500m for a new football project.

There have been groups and individuals who have had Tottenham in the crosshairs for a full takeover too.

TBR Footballꦍ understands that MSP Sports Capital, who failed in a bid to buy Everton last year, went as far as to appoint a consultancy firm to carry out research with a view to a full bid.

🌳Others have been linked too – Paris Saint-Germain owners Qatar Sports Investments, Formula One proprietors Liberty Media, and the rapper-turned-investor Jay-Z, to name a handful.

Spurs meanwhile have enlisted the Rothschild bankꦑ to smoke out potential new partners in order to, in Levy’s own words, acquire a “significant increase in its equity base.”

ಞAny deal – be that a minority arrangement or full takeover – would not come cheap.

Levy values Spurs at £3.75bn🐼 and, given his reputation as a formidable negotiator, he is unlikely to give any would-be investor much breathing space in talks.

𝐆Astonishingly, a sale at that price would represent a world-record for a football takeover and a circa 4000% markup on Levy and ENIC’s initial investment.

And, as football finance expert Kieran Maguire told TBR⭕ earlier this year, the 62-year-old executive is justified in his appraisal of the club he has supported since he was a boy.

ꦬFans are routinely frustrated at what they perceive to be the club’s commercial orientation under Levy and ENIC, but their growth as a business since the move to the new stadium in 2019 has been stupefying.

🐬Matchday income has trebled at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but it is in the commercial department where the real, transformative gains have been obtained.

✨Spurs trousered £228m from sponsorship, merchandise sales and events over the course of the last financial year.

🥂What’s more, £55m of that sum came from non-football events at the stadium. And from next year a new license will allow them to double the number of events they hold and, in turn, their revenue.

ജThese aren’t the metrics by which supporters gauge success in football, of course.

Spurs are 7th in the Premier League𝐆 and on a near two-decade silverware drought, and some bedrock fans are growing impatient with the current owners for what they see as a lack of ambition in N17.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	LiverpoolLiverpool	13	11	1	1	26	8	18	34
2	ArsenalArsenal	13	7	4	2	26	14	12	25
3	ChelseaChelsea	13	7	4	2	26	14	12	25
4	BrightonBrighton	13	6	5	2	22	17	5	23
5	Man CityManchester City	13	7	2	4	22	19	3	23
6	Nottm ForestNottingham Forest	13	6	4	3	16	13	3	22
7	TottenhamTottenham	13	6	2	5	28	14	14	20
8	BrentfordBrentford	13	6	2	5	26	23	3	20
9	Man UtdManchester United	13	5	4	4	17	13	4	19
10	FulhamFulham	13	5	4	4	18	18	0	19

🌼But the reality is that prospective new owners are more likely to look at EBITDA, cost control, and brand profile when they assess an investment opportunity – and Spurs excel in all of these areas.

💜Now, one of the biggest names in sports business is said to have also recognised Tottenham’s potential.

• READ MORE: 🐲Deleted Tottenham Tweet speaks volumes about the problem with Daniel Levy’s £3.75bn masterplan

NFL billionaire in London to ‘potentially purchase’ Tottenham

♌The NFL enjoy a special relationship with Tottenham.

𝕴The biggest sports league in the world invested around £10m in the construction of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and stage the London Games at the 62,850-seater venue annually.

☂That has been lucrative for Spurs because of the hosting fee they receive, yes, but also because it has helped the club further embed themselves in the United States as a commercial market.

In what Levy has confessed is a dream of his, it has been suggested that the ♕Super Bowl could even one day be staged at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium💫, which has become the sport’s spiritual home in Europe.

𝔉But the connections the two entities could be about to get much closer.

ꦯAccording to Eric Sollenberger, who goes by PFT Commenter on X, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is in London to explore a possible deal for Spurs.

It is not entirely clear whether Jones’ investment would be on a minority basis, but those consulted by TBR✅ suggest that this is probably the case, if indeed the sources cited are accurate.

🃏And while one tweet in isolation might not inspire huge confidence, Jones has been tentatively linked with Spurs before by the Evening Standard.

🧔Public records confirm that Jones’ private jet is indeed in London too, although the same was also true around the same time last year.

In developments covered extensively by this site, the NFL have launched their first football project via an investment in Liga MX🍌 in conjunction with private equity titans Apollo.

⛦Several Premier League clubs also share an ownership structure with an NFL owner.

Meanwhile, Amanda Staveleyℱ was a guest of Levy’s when the Jacksonville Jaguars faced the Chicago Bears at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in October.

ꦍThe financier, who has a peerless rolodex of contacts in Middle East finance, is a big fan of the NFL and also understood to have met with officials from the league independently of her interest in Spurs.

• READ MORE: 🅰NBA superstar could pick Chelsea or Tottenham as Daniel Levy and Todd Boehly hold part-takeover talks

Who is Jerry Jones? The man who reportedly wants to buy Spurs

🍬Jones, 82, has been the owner of the United States’ biggest and most successful NFL franchise the Dallas Cowboys since 1989.

✨Prior to that, the California-born businessman enjoyed a playing career in the sport, turning out at college level for Arkansas Razorbacks.

🤪It is fair to say that Jones is a polarising figure, not least among fans of the Dallas Cowboys themselves, who have not won the Super Bowl for two decades.

൲There are parallels between the Cowboys’ situation and Manchester United’s, or at least that is what some people have observed.

👍Would he be a suitable owner or co-owner for Spurs? That really depends on the structure of any potential deal.

⛎His independent wealth is not in question. He is currently worth about £13bn and, as a minority investor, would have the capital and liquidity to potentially take Spurs forward on and off the pitch.

💦But Jones is known for his hands-on approach. In fact, some commentators have accused him of overstepping boundaries in the past.

🐽Would that approach work alongside Levy, who is the all-seeing eye in N17? It is a question that fans will inevitably ask.