Fenway Sports Group is an American sports investment company.
It is the parent company of Major League Baseball's Boston Red Sox and Premier League football
club Liverpool F.C..
FSG was founded in 2001 as New England Sports Ventures 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.
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 and Fenway Sports Management, plus 80 percent
of the New England Sports Network and 50 percent of Roush Fenway Racing, a NASCAR team.
In an April 2014 article in Forbes magazine, senior editor Kurt Badenhausen called FSG,
"the most sophisticated, synergistic player in the coming age of international sports
conglomerates".
History New England Sports Ventures, LLC, was incorporated
in Delaware in 2001, the company registered to do business in Massachusetts in the same
year.
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 Yawkey 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 the only one of the original standard ballparks that is still in use.
Considered to be one of the best-known sports venues in the world, it 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.
NESN The New England Sports Network, or 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, Connecticut which
is covered by New York City sports networks.
Fenway Sports Group is the majority owner of NESN, with the Boston Bruins owning 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 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 Nationwide 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, the Fenway Sports Group, owner of the Boston Red Sox baseball team,
purchased 50% of Roush Racing to create a new corporate entity, Roush Fenway Racing.
Fenway Sports Management Fenway Sports Management 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 and as of 2014 counts the Red Sox,
Liverpool F.C., LeBron James, Johnny Manziel, BC, Roush Fenway Racing, MLB.com, the PGA
Tour's Deutsche Bank Championship, NESN, and the Salem Red Sox among its client base.
Liverpool Football Club On the 6 October 2010 FSG agreed to buy English
Premier League football club Liverpool F.C. from owners George N. Gillett, Jr. and Tom
Hicks, after the board voted 3-2 to oust them from the club.
It purchased through subsidiary, "N.E.S.V.
I, LLC" and UK based holding company "UKSV Holdings Company Limited"
On 15 October FSG completed the purchase of the club after several court hearings.
However, previous owners Gillett and Hicks argued the purchase was illegal and vowed
to take court action for damages worth £1 billion.
However, according to reports on October 17, Gillett and Hicks appear to have decided not
to pursue the claim.
FSG visited Liverpool's home ground Anfield and training ground Melwood following their
successful takeover.
With its worldwide fan base Liverpool is one of the most successful clubs in the history
of English and European football, winning eighteen English championships and a British
record five European Cups.
Liverpool play at the iconic Anfield stadium where matches are renowned for their great
atmosphere.
The club crest is the famous Liver bird, the mythical bird that is the symbol of the city
of Liverpool.
Liverpool’s fans are renowned for beginning and ending every home game with their anthem
‘You'll Never Walk Alone’.
Anfield Anfield is an association football stadium
in the district of Anfield, in Liverpool, England.
Built in 1884, 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.
Partners John W. Henry is the principal owner.
No other shareholder owns more than 10%.
References
Boston Red Sox 2010 Media Guide, page 9 External links
redsox.com Liverpool FC website