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The venture arm of the San Francisco 49ers has taken a controlling stake in Rangers Football Club, throwing its weight behind the Scottish side’s efforts to revive its fortunes and compete against its dominant rival Celtic.
The NFL team’s investment business, 49ers Enterprises, which already owns English Premier League club Leeds United, is leading the consortium that has bought shares from existing shareholders and committed to support a £20mn injection of capital into the Glasgow club, said Rangers on Friday.
Insurance executive Andrew Cavenagh will partner 49ers Enterprises and become Rangers chair while Paraag Marathe, who heads the Leeds board, will be vice chair. The deal is subject to shareholder approval at a meeting next month.
49ers Enterprises becomes the latest owner of a top-tier English club to buy into the Scottish Premiership after Bill Foley’s Black Knight Football Club, owner of AFC Bournemouth, purchased a stake in Edinburgh side Hibernian.
Supporters of Heart of Midlothian, another Edinburgh team, have also backed a proposal for Brighton & Hove Albion owner Tony Bloom to invest £10mn for a 29 per cent stake in the club. He billed this as an attempt to “disrupt Scottish football”, which has long been dominated by the Glasgow sides collectively known as the Old Firm.
Rangers, which was formed in 1872 and plays at the 51,000-capacity Ibrox Stadium, has won 55 league titles among a long list of major honours. Its bitter rivalry with Celtic is among the most heated contests in world football, and the most commercially attractive fixture in Scottish sport.
However, Celtic this season matched Rangers’ record of titles. Rangers have failed to add to their tally since they won the title in 2021 and have had to watch Celtic win 13 of the past 14 Scottish league titles.
“This club’s history and traditions speak for themselves, but history doesn’t win matches,” Cavenagh said. “Our focus is simple: elevate performance, deliver results, and bring Rangers back to where it belongs — at the top.”
The arrival of new investors could be a turning point for Rangers, who have endured a roller-coaster few years. The team has fought its way back to the Scottish top flight having been relegated to the lowest tier in 2012 after the club’s debts swelled.
The takeover required approval from the Scottish Football Association to comply with the governing body’s rules on owners with interests in other clubs, because of the 49ers’ involvement at Leeds.
However, the deal has not been structured as a multiclub ownership group — an increasingly popular way of buying and investing in football clubs — meaning that Rangers and Leeds will not sit within a so-called MCO, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
This is designed to make it easier for Rangers and Leeds to participate in European competitions in the event that they both qualify in future.
Rangers chief executive Patrick Stewart, who joined the club in December after 18 years at Manchester United, said: “Our focus now is on the hard work ahead, preparing thoroughly for the new season, appointing the right men’s head coach, and ensuring we have the structures in place to support success on the pitch.”
Rangers, which is also seeking a new team manager, reported a pre-tax loss of about £17mn in the 2023-24 season on revenues of £88mn, whereas Celtic made a pre-tax profit of £17.8mn on revenues of £124mn.
