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From Milan to London, European football continues to attract investors from across the globe keen to tap into the glamor of the “beautiful game.” But one Chinese-American entrepreneur has chosen a modest town in Yorkshire, England for his assault on the sport -- and there’s even a Hollywood connection.
Last year, a consortium led by Chien Lee, founder, chairman and CEO of NewCity Capital, completed their takeover of Barnsley, a team from the second tier of English football. It was Lee’s second foray into the sport, having already transformed the fortunes of French club, OGC Nice. Last season they finished third in the country’s top division -- Ligue 1 -- and qualified for Europe’s elite club competition for the first time in almost 60 years.
But why Barnsley?
“I like the culture of Barnsley,” Lee told FORBES during a recent interview in Hong Kong. “The club is the town’s biggest asset; it’s a small town, so the football club is its identity.
“My goal is to work with the fans, work with the city council -- work together to promote Barnsley and the town at the same time. We will try to ‘internationalize’ Barnsley, as we did with Nice. Before we invested in Nice, not many people in Asia had heard of them . Now in Asia -- in China -- people know the club.”
He also pointed to their potential reach in India. “Here there are more than a billion people, and they have that historical relationship with England. So I see that as a big market if we can bring more sponsorship from India -- and China -- to Barnsley, then we will improve.”
The 'Moneyball' model
However, the Barnsley project is made rather more interesting because one of Lee’s fellow investors is Billy Beane, the inspiration behind the 2011 movie Moneyball. The movie tells the story of how Beane -- played by Brad Pitt -- brought success to the Oakland Athletics, a Major League baseball team in the U.S., by analyzing data to scout and recruit undervalued players around the league.
Lee said Beane’s involvement came about because he’s a big football fan -- though he stressed the former baseball player would not be playing a hands-on role at Barnsley. “Billy is very passionate about soccer, but his focus is baseball. He has a full-time job with the A’s.” Beane is currently Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations at Oakland.
But Barnsley will be using Beane’s ideas. “We’re going to use his philosophy. We’ll expand what Barnsley did in the past couple of years,” he said, referring to the previous owner’s use of big data to run certain aspects of the club -- such as player recruitment. “Their strategy was focused on England. So now we’re going to expand this base to Germany, France, Holland, Portugal… South Africa. This will involve analyzing the players, and how to pick players, using big data.” And all with the aim of making Barnsley punch above its weight economically by identifying players with potential that other clubs miss or under-appreciate.
Beane himself is no stranger to football; he set about adapting his Moneyball system to analyze the attributes of footballers and games after the Oakland owners took over the franchise for MLS team, San Jose. He has also played an advisory role at Dutch football club, AZ Alkmaar.
Stability
So what defines success at Barnsley?
“First of all, we’re going to stabilize ourselves in The Championship,” said Lee. Last season, Barnsley finished 14th in the league, after winning promotion from League One (English football's third tier) the previous year. However, they currently sit in 19th position in The Championship after 29 games -- perilously close to the relegation zone. Dropping down a division would have serious financial implications for the club.
This is not something that appears to faze Lee. “I’m a long-term investor,” he continued. “So there’s no rush. Let’s stabilize and then move forward step by step.”
This strategy contrasts with sharply with that of many other foreign investors currently in the English game, where huge sums of money are invested in marquee players and success is expected overnight. Clubs in England’s top league -- The Premier League -- spent an estimated $610 million on new players in January alone, according to Deloitte in a report by BBC Sport. Recent reports indicate that increased spending has also greatly accelerated the rate at which managers are hired and fired in English football.
Whatever business Lee’s company invests in, from retail to real estate, his message is simple: “ You need to know what to buy, how to buy and buy smart.
“You don’t just want to buy a club, or a hotel, or buy a media company … you need to know after you buy it what your goal is. Is there a synergy with your existing business? For me, why I buy is not why others may buy. I see the business opportunity, I invest in different industries -- hospitality, sport … I like challenge. If there's no challenge, I don’t invest.”
