Coventry City has £30m in debts. There are two options, only one of which is being considered:
- a private takeover of the club (being put together by Ray Ranson and Sisu Capital)
- the Green Bay Packers Option
The Green Bay Packers are a NFL American Football team. They are the only non-profit, community-owned major league professional sports team in the United States.
Despite having one-third the population of Coventry (102,313 people as of the 2000 census), the Packers have 112 000 shareholders.
If 112 000 Sky Blues supporters stepped forward, it would be £270 each to wipe out the club's debts.
Such an ownership structure has not handcuffed the Packers from being successful. Indeed, they won the 1996 Super Bowl, attracted arguably the best quarterback in the last 15 years to play for them, and had five league titles between 1961 and 1967.
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3 comments:
You didn't mention it, but I'm assuming the private takeover is the option being discussed.
I'm not sure what the rules of the Football League require as far as team ownership. Professional American Football - the NFL - requires each team to have one person who owns a majority of the stock - at least 51 percent. Green Bay is a unique case as it was allowed to keep its public ownership when the rule was passed by the league.
It should also be noted that Green Bay's shareholders are from across the United States, not just from Green Bay. I don't know if that would be possible in England with so many teams and the fandom split so many ways. Green Bay, because of its success and its role as a small-town team among big cities, has a unique national following.
I was wondering if my post was going to attract cheesehead attention!
I'm unsure about the Football League requirements. I know that recently, Ebbsfleet (three tiers below Coventry) had 20 000 people buy equal stakes in it, as a takeover bid.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/g/gravesend_and_northfleet/7089473.stm
Great article, don't think there is enough Coventry fans to step in though. If your watching a game why not stay in one of the many Coventry City Athletic hotels.
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