The Sacramento Kings owner is looking to get involved in the beautiful game.
According to a report from Scott Soshnick and Brendan Coffey of Sportico, Sacramento Kings owner and tech mogul Vivek Ranadivé is “readying a bid” for the English football club Chelsea F.C., which was recently put up for sale by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
If Ranadivé is to successfully outbid his competitors and become the club’s owner, he would become the first person of Indian descent to own an elite English football club.
HAVE A DAY, @CPULISIC_10
— U.S. Soccer MNT (@USMNT) March 5, 2022
Chelsea F.C., who is currently in third place in the Premier League, is home to arguably the most talented American soccer player at the moment in Christian Pulisic.
Sacramento, which is home to a very large soccer fanbase, would likely have many fans that do not currently affiliate with a Premier League club begin to support Chelsea F.C. and Pulisic.
Along with Ranadivé are two other American bidders, interim CEO of the Hollywood Foreign Press Todd Boehly, and New York Jets Owner Woody Johnson.
Chelsea F.C. was recently valued by Sportico at $3.35 billion dollars. The fourth highest value of any English football club.
Ranadivé, who is very respected amongst NBA owners, purchased the Sacramento kings in 2013 for $534 million. The Kings are now worth over $2 billion. Although he has not made the Kings a successful team, they are now a valuable team.
Chelsea FC fans 1 month after Vivek purchasing them pic.twitter.com/bCGKUu82al
— iamTHEREALVEGASMURPH (@RealMurphdog916) March 8, 2022
Chelsea F.C. fans that follow the NBA have not shown much excitement or interest in Ranadivé buying their team due to the lack of success he has had in Sacramento. However, he would likely fair much greater in Chelsea due to the club’s already talented roster and strong foundation. Chelsea is also a much more attractive city to players than Sacramento is.
Ranadivé have great business skills and is a very smart man. He immigrated to the U.S. with nothing and is now more successful than most can even dream of. He may not be the best NBA owner, but he knows how to be prosperous.