After a months-long battle of billionaire sports owners, a new owner for Chelsea FC is emerging: The group led by Todd Boehly will reportedly enter exclusive talks to purchase the club.

The final reported price will exceed $4.4 billion, setting a record for a professional sports team sale – one that may be broken later this year by a buyer for the Denver Broncos. Boehly also submitted a bid for the NFL team.

• The bid from the American investor and co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Lakers, and Sparks includes private equity firm Clearlake Capital.

• Rival bidders, led by British businessman Sir Martin Broughton and Boston Celtics owner Stephen Pagliuca, have been informed they will not be selected.
• Should Boehly’s bid fall through, those two bids would reportedly be next in line.

Boehly, Chelsea, and Raine Group, the bank handling the sale, have not confirmed the news. The U.K. government is working to ensure that former owner Roman Abramovich does not profit from the sale after he was sanctioned for his ties to Vladimir Putin.

Last-Minute Drama

A late bid from majority owner of chemicals company Ineos Group — and one of Britain’s richest men — Sir Jim Ratcliffe of up to $5.4 billion presented a wild card, but it is believed the move came too late to impact the process.

Raine Group tagged groups led by Boehly, Broughton, Pagliuca, and the Ricketts family as finalists in March. The Ricketts, who own the Chicago Cubs, dropped out later in the process.

Inter Miami CF is on its way to a new downtown stadium after a key Miami City Commission vote.

The commission approved a 99-year lease for the land currently occupied by the Melreese golf course in a 4-1 vote — clearing the path for the MLS club owned by Jorge Mas and David Beckham to build a 25,000-seat stadium and a new development area, Miami Freedom Park. 

The development will include a 58-acre public park, public soccer fields, a 31.4-acre retail area, office space, and 750 hotel rooms.

• Mas said the team aims to complete the project by March 2025, in time for that year’s MLS season.
• Thursday’s negotiations raised the rent floor for the land to $4.3 million annually from $3.57 million. The city will order two additional land-value appraisals that could push the rent higher.
• The two sides agreed on a provision that provides the city 5-6% of the area’s gross revenue, with the exact figure determined by how that figure compares to the rent floor.

Miami Freedom Park still has to pass certain procedural hurdles, such as rezoning the golf course land, and may face lawsuits.

Hurricane Watch

On the suggestion of city commission member Joe Carollo, the team will also look into making the new stadium home to the University of Miami’s football team. 

The Hurricanes are under contract to play at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, home to the Miami Dolphins and next week’s Formula 1 race, through 2033.

Columbia Sportswear Company announced record revenue in Q1 2022, but saw its stock take a dip in the company’s latest earnings report. 

The sportswear and outdoor apparel retailer generated $762 million in revenue in Q1 2022, a 22% increase compared to the same period a year prior. Columbia attributed the record results to growth across all of its brands, led by Sorel footwear, which grew 37% compared to Q1 2021. 

• Columbia projects to pocket between $3.6 billion and $3.7 billion in revenue in FY2022.
• In 2022, operating income is expected to range between $477 million and $502 million. 

Despite the strong Q1 results, shares of Columbia were down 6% on Friday as the company reported that its cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments reached $610 million as of March 31, 2022, compared to $875 million last year.

Columbia also expects supply chain and inflationary challenges, as well as a shutdown of distribution in Russia, to hinder the company’s outlook for the rest of the fiscal year. 

The Oregon-based company repurchased $217 million in shares in Q1 2022, and its board of directors recently approved a $500 million increase to the company’s buyback authorization. 

Lowered Expectations

In December 2021, investment bank and market analyst Stifel downgraded Columbia. Analyst Jim Duffy lowered the brand from “buy” to “hold” due to concerns that a combination of unexpected warm weather and late-season snowfalls could impact the company’s sales.