Liverpool owners FSG land latest boost to help with $4bn ‘plan’ that ‘just makes sense’

LeBron James, a partner of Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group, has been named as the second most marketable athlete in the world.

SportsPro Media have named their list for 2023 in association with North Star Solutions Group. And NBA icon James has moved up from fourth to second spot - which places him only behind Lionel Messi.

The LA Lakers star has won four NBA Championships during his career, while he became the league's highest scorer in history last year. Plenty of fans concur that only Michael Jordan ranks above him as the greatest player of all time.

James has been a minority investor in Liverpool since 2011 when he purchased a 2% stake. However, in 2021 the 38-year-old converted his share in the Reds to a 1% stake in the Boston-based group - before increasing his share and becoming a lifetime partner in FSG last year.

FSG also own Major League Baseball team the Boston Red Sox, National Hockey League outfit the Pittsburgh Penguins and recently acquired a Boston franchise in the new TGL golf league spearheaded by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. However, it has scarcely been a secret that an NBA franchise in Las Vegas is something that would appeal to FSG.

And James has also spoken of his desire to head up a team in Sin City if the NBA is ever expanded. NBA commissioner Adam Silver has previously admitted that the league could open up in 2025.

The Phoenix Suns were sold for around $4 billion in December 2022. It is said that price tag could be a barometer for the fee it would cost to start a new franchise, with a team in Seattle also mooted. Current NBA teams would all acquire an equal share of any purchases.

With James' stock as high as it has ever been, despite being in the twilight years of his playing career, that will only bode well for FSG - and Liverpool - in the long term.

Speaking at a pre-season game against the Brooklyn Nets at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas earlier this month, James said: “It just makes sense. "Obviously, you have the Raiders here, you have the [Golden] Knights here, you have the Aces here. You got F1 coming very soon. All-Star Weekend has been a few times," he said. I think adding an NBA franchise here would just add to the momentum that's going on in this town."