American owners here to stay as the penny finally drops

US takeover of Liverpool will not be the last as investors from across the pond wise up to the fact that football is the world game, writes Nick Harris

The Americans are coming, and George Gillett Jnr, the co-owner of Liverpool, yesterday summed up in one sentence why they are starting to invest in English football in numbers. "We have come to realise," said the 68-year-old businessman, "that we Americans have ignored the most popular sport in the world."

The penny has dropped. After largely shunning the beautiful game, failing to notice that most of the planet gets its major sporting kicks from booting a round ball, American sports business has wised up.

"If you truly love the sports business, as we do, there are only so many places you can go in the US," Gillett said. "So that resulted in many of us looking overseas. Football is tribal, nothing like North America. It's natural to go where the fans go."

So Gillett and his partner at Liverpool, the Texan Tom Hicks, have joined the Glazers at Manchester United, and Randy Lerner at Aston Villa, as American owners in the Premiership. They will not be the last.

Jeff L'Hote is the director of North American operations for FMM International and an expert in sports investment, especially football.

FMMI provides guidance to the global football industry and L'Hote was the lead author on a new report about commercial opportunities in American soccer. Through his research, he is well placed to comment on why American tycoons are drifting over here.

"With the Premiership in particular, the new TV deals [worth £2.7bn over the next three seasons] have caught the eye this side of the Atlantic," L'Hote told The Independent from his New York office. "While they don't approach the NFL in TV revenue [£1.6bn a year], they're substantial, attractive revenue streams.

"Americans are also starting to understand the business of football a bit better. Football has not really been on the radar compared to the big four - American football, basketball, baseball and ice hockey - but now it is.

"In a way, the Glazer deal came out of nowhere, certainly from an American perspective. But it helped to highlight that football is the most popular and most commercially successful sport in the world."

L'Hote says that American sports franchise owners see expansion into English football not just as a way to make money in England but also to expand recognition of their existing franchises around the world.

He cites the NFL's decision to stage a regular-season game outside North America for the first time as an example of the new mindset - the Miami Dolphins will play the New York Giants at Wembley Stadium in October.

So what new management techniques will Americans bring, and why else do they find the Premiership attractive? Professor Chris Brady, the dean of the business school at Bournemouth University, and a specialist in football finance, says ease of entry into England is attractive. Like Gillett and Hicks, investors can execute rapid buyouts, dealing with a few key shareholders, and then take advantage of revenue streams that legislation in North America forbids. Selling club-branded credit cards and having lucrative links with gambling firms are examples.

L'Hote sees untapped potential in stadium management, with investors attracted by seven-day earning potential, not to mention naming rights. Gillett and Hicks see naming rights as an option at Liverpool's new stadium. With Hicks' well-publicised connections to the US President, the Dubya Freedom Dome might soon rise over Stanley Park. Then again, it might be something more tasteful, like Dick's Sporting Goods Park, the Colorado venue where Celtic will play in the MLS All-Star game this summer.

Dick's is the Soccer Specific Stadium (SSS) home to the MLS's Colorado Rapids, and is in itself another indicator of why Americans are increasingly looking to England. SSS are only being built because football, while still trailing "the big four" sports in popularity and trailing European leagues by a margin in quality, is in bullish mood in America. David Beckham is coming. The MLS recently signed its first TV deals, worth $200m over eight years. Up to now, it paid for its games to be screened. And America's population is becoming more Hispanic - and hence football fanatic in that demographic at least - by the year. There are 42 million Hispanic Americans now, and in 20 years, one in four Americans will be of Hispanic origin or ethnicity.

As football grows, so does the potential for English clubs to make money in America. It is one more reason the Americans are coming, and another reminder to them that they have ignored the world's most popular sport for too long.

Different ball game: How the Americans' home teams are faring

Randy Lerner (Aston Villa)

The owner of the NFL's Cleveland Browns has seen them suffer on the field, finishing this season fourth in the AFC North with a 4-12 win/loss ratio. Off it the Browns continue to flourish. A 2006 survey found their fans to be the most loyal in the NFL, with 99.8 per cent of their 73,200-capacity Browns Stadium packed out.

Tom Hicks (Liverpool)

Hicks is chairman of both the Dallas Stars NHL side and the Texas Rangers baseball club. The Stars won the Stanley Cup in 1999 but have had a mixed season this year and are third in their five-team Pacific Division. Their home rink, the $325m (£165m) American Airlines Center, opened in 2001 and has 143 suites. The Rangers are in their off-season but had a win ratio of just under 50 per cent last year in a poor campaign. Tickets are between $6 and $106.

George Gillett (Liverpool)

The Montreal Canadiennes are the third most successful sports team in North America, having won one in every four NHL Stanley Cup titles, but they have suffered a championship drought since 1993. They are second in the North-east Division of the Eastern Conference, 10 points behind the leaders, Buffalo Sabres. Prices at the Bell Centre range from $22 to the $192 platinum tickets.

Malcolm Glazer (Manchester United)

Glazer has had a positive effect on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers since taking over in 1995. He built the Raymond James Stadium, whose season-ticket waiting list is now 145,000. A ticket price of $31.50 is one of the lowest in the NFL. They lifted the Super Bowl in 2003. In 2002 Glazer sacked coach Tony Dungy, who won the Super Bowl with Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.