The new Chelsea investor thinking even bigger than Todd Boehly as US plan emerges

Since the arrival of the Todd Boehly/Clearlake Capital consortium back in May 2022, the owners haven’t been afraid to put their money where their mouth is when it comes to Chelsea.

When it comes to the men’s team, Boehly and co have sanctioned more than £1bn in transfer fees, with the club’s transfer debt sitting at £498m, the largest in the Premier League by a staggering £161m. The club changed the dynamic of the transfer market, with both the Premier League and UEFA stepping in to cap amortisation at five years on the back of the Blues’ blitz around long-term deals to spread the cost on the books.

The owners have had plenty of critics, including sections of their own supporter base given the lack of competitive success that has followed despite all the investment into the product on the pitch.

But Boehly, especially, isn’t one for being blown off course by some critical words, believing that the Chelsea ‘project’ is one for the long term, and one where they are positioning themselves to dominate, almost hiding in plain sight when it comes to what they think the future holds for the football club.

The bullish view that Boehly has on the men’s team has continued with his view on the club’s women’s side, which the club effectively sold to itself recently in a deal that valued the women’s team at £200m, more than what some Premier League clubs such as Bournemouth and Brentford are pegged at when it comes to valuation. That is despite minimal revenues compared to the men, and no huge broadcast deal or major attendances in the Women’ Super League week in, week out.

READ MORE:

READ MORE:

But, knowing how popular the women’s game is in the US, and believing the direction of travel to be coming to UK shores, Boehly has long been confident that the Chelsea takeover wasn’t just about how to maximise the potential of the men’s team.

Speaking at the Qatar Economic Forum last year, Boehly stated his belief that the Chelsea women’s team would skyrocket in value in the coming years.

“One of the things we believe very much is that the Chelsea women’s team is a top, top women's team in the world, and it's going to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars,” said Boehly.

“We're starting to see sponsors recognise that fact and they have got to get on board right now because it's good for their brand.”

What is happening in the US with regards to women’s football is starting to set the tone for the women’s game on a more macro level, with investors now seeing the growth potential that exists in not only women’s football, but a number of professional women’s sports which have been attracting an influx of new capital.

In the NWSL, the highest level of professional women’s football in America, valuations of teams have been on a sharp incline, with team sales having risen from the $35m paid for the Washington Spirit by Michele Kang in 2022, to the $113m paid for the San Diego Wave last year. Angel City FC, the NWSL’s most globally recognised team, was sold for $250m this year.

The Boehly premonition appears to be coming to pass, with an ‘eight to 10% stake’ in Chelsea Women acquired by Reddit founder and husband of tennis legend Serena Williams, Alexis Ohanian.

Ohanian, who had previously been the largest shareholder in Angel City, is an investor who has gone big on the future of women’s football and women’s sport in general, also co-founding a women-only athletics event named Athlos.

Boehly’s take last year that Chelsea Women would be worth “hundreds of millions of dollars” has been taken to the next level by Ohanian, who is thinking even bigger.

The plan for the Boehly/Clearlake regime was always to try and grow the brand and visibility of the men’s team across the Atlantic in the United States, but the new co-owner of the women’s team believes that avenue could well be what sets apart the Chelsea from the rest, becoming the first English women’s team to really have a global appeal.

"Chelsea is very unique. These are the queens of global soccer, and they've got the trophy case to prove it. This is a very special club," Ohanian .

"The sky is the limit," continued Ohanian. "You heard our president say this club is unapologetically ambitious - I want to get that tattooed on me.

"That is what we're trying to build here - the best team in the world and at the forefront of women's sport.

"This will be a billion-dollar franchise one day. I hope my dollars, my pounds, can go towards that and especially back home in America. This is going to be America's team."