|
Bet as you click at the World betting and gambling directory with online sportsbooks, free no deposit casinos, multi player poker rooms, financial markets betting, lotteries, bingo and more...
|
|
Simon Lewis from the Irish mail on Sunday December 2nd 2007 discusses Liverpool and Gillette George
Gillett Jr appears to have long practiced the lesson learned this week by his
employee Rafael Benitez – that it pays to keep one’s thoughts to oneself. Liverpool
manager Benitez fell foul of the club’s new co-owners, the American
businessmen Gillett and Tom Hicks, after being told by the latter to “quit
talking” following his criticisms of the pair regarding his lack of freedom in
the transfer market. Benitez
ignored last week’s direct order from Hicks and used his post-match
press conference at A
subsequent public climbdown from the Anfield boss was followed by a 4-1 win over
Marches
through the streets of Liverpool there may have been last Wednesday before the
victory over Porto and a full-scale row between Hicks and Benitez has been
played out via the pages of the Liverpool Echo but 69-year-old Gillett was
showing no signs of angst himself this week as he flew into New York City from
his base in Vail, Colorado, to make a rare public appearance. Gillett,
through his Booth Creek Management Corporation, which he operates with three of
his four sons, owns a plethora of businesses including organic food companies,
car dealerships, ski resorts and, yes, professional sports teams. His dealings
once led him into bankruptcy, when in 1992 he fell victim to a collapse in the
junk bond market but his successes far outweigh the setbacks. And from being a
billionaire at 50, he has restored his fortune to around to an estimated $250m
in 2006. A
former minority partner in the Miami Dolphins National Football League team and
one-time owner of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team, Gillett currently
owns the National Hockey League’s Montreal Canadiens ice hockey team in
addition to his 50 per cent stake in Liverpool FC. But he was in Gillett
declined to speak to the Mail On Sunday on the subject of Benitez and Liverpool
FC, stating politely: “I don’t do interviews, I let my partner do all the
talking,” referring to Hicks. He
did admit, though, that he was looking forward to seeing the team play their
final Champions League group game in Marseille on December 11 before heading to
Merseyside for the monumental double header of owners versus manager and
Liverpool versus Manchester United the following Sunday. But while Gillett was giving nothing away on Benitez’s future his thoughts on sports and team ownership that he shared during his Motorsports Marketing Forum interview make interesting reading given the current tensions at Anfield. “I don’t think of (team ownership) as a business investment. The thing our family thinks about is how great a privilege it has been to be the trustee of some great teams and great franchises over the years. I honestly believe that we hold these in trust for the fans. I don’t think you will find us sitting down as a family talking about these teams in terms of money, money, money. We talk about performance and we’re in the sports business because we love to take teams that aren’t necessarily winning and make winners of them and try and build dynasties. “We’re in the midst of that
with Canadiens who are playing well and we’re in the midst of it at “So we like to be involved where we have an opportunity to affect what happens as opposed to buying something at the top.” Gillett has many admirers in the business world for the way he has transformed both businesses and sports teams. As president and CEO of investment banking firm McLaren Capital Advisors, Mark Doherty initiated, structured and negotiated Gillett’s takeover of the Evernham Motorsports team, has worked with the Jordan and Williams Formula One teams and was instrumental in the recent buyout of the Stryker F1 team by by Indian billionaire Vijay Mallya and Dutch entrepreneur Michiel Mol. Doherty knows what to look for in a business partner and he likes what he has seen in Gillett. “He’s a sports guy and very successful at it,” Doherty said. “George is incredibly smart, incredibly sophisticated and very marketing oriented. “He knows exactly what a sponsor is looking for from an owner. Before Gillett, Ray (Evernham, the previous owner) had been looking for new sponsors for five years. George comes on board and the team has two new sponsors in six months.” None of that will matter a damn
to the And American business magazine website Forbes.com reported earlier this year that Gillett, who also owns the Canadien's arena, the Bell Centre, leveraged the building in 2006 to borrow $240 million, in part, the website reported, “to pay himself a $72 million dividend” and using “the Bell Centre to secure the loan”. Gillett, though, insists his sporting interests are genuine and that he approaches team ownership differently to the way he runs his other business interests. “I’m a sports nut,” he told his audience on Tuesday. “But I’m not sure that sports fits the same economic matrix (as other businesses). I think you approach it differently, I think you look for different things and I think that things stand out differently in sports than they do in other businesses. We’re on both sides and we’ll keep it that way.” The handling of Benitez later
this month will be an early indication of whether Gillett remains true to his
word. |
|
