USAT: Jets Wire audio clip

USAT: Jets Wire

Mar 8, 2022

Woody Johnson wants to buy another football team, just not in the NFL. - The Jets owner is interested in buying Chelsea F.C. from Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Johnson is preparing a bid for the English Premier League team. Johnson has already spoken with The Raine Group, per Schefter, about setting up a bid for the London-based club. - Abramovich put the team up for sale last week following increased sanctions against Russian oligarchs in the United Kingdom following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. - What would it cost Johnson to buy Chelsea? Abramovich reportedly wanted £3 billion for the club, or around $3.26 billion, according to ESPN’s James Olley. A bid of £2.5 billion, or $2.71 billion, has already been rejected, according to Sky Sports. For reference, Johnson bought the Jets in 2000 for $635 million. - Olley also reported that around 20 different parties are interested in Chelsea, including Los Angeles Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly and the owner of Fanatics, Michael Rubin. - Johnson is familiar with England after spending four years away from the Jets as the United States ambassador to the United Kingdom under Donald Trump’s administration from 2017-2021. The Jets have also played twice in London and were recently rewarded home marketing rights in the United Kingdom as part of the NFL’s push into international markets. - Whether Johnson becomes a viable buyer remains to be seen, but he wouldn’t be the first NFL owner to also have a stake in the EPL. Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke owns Arsenal F.C., Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan owns Fulham F.C., and the Glazer family owns the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Manchester United. San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York is a minority owner of Leeds United. - - List - - The best photos from the Jets' trip to London - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Email - - - - - Sign up - - - - - - - - Like this article? - Sign up for the Jets Wire email newsletter to get our top stories in your inbox every morning - - - - An error has occured - - - Please re-enter your email address. - - - - - - Thanks for signing up! - - - You'll now receive the top Jets Wire stories each day directly in your inbox.

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