Robert Kraft buying stake in Sevilla

Kliq

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The structure of soccer, particularly La Liga is so that only two or three teams have a real chance at winning the title each year. Sevilla is one of the top teams in La Liga but is a big step below Real Madrid and Barcelona. I guess if it’s the Big 10 and Ohio State is Barcelona and Real Madrid is Michigan; then Sevilla is Wisconsin (Atletico is Penn State).
 

shaggydog2000

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For those of us not familiar with La Liga, is there a comparable US pro sports team in terms of history, tradition, success, etc?
It's hard to compare because La Liga is absurdly topheavy. Real Madrid or Barcelona have won the league 90% of the time for the last two decades, and Valencia is the only other team to win it. Sevilla has been mostly a middle of the pack team in the league for it's existence, and the only time it won the league was in 1946. It has had some success in the second tier international cup competition, the Europa league. But that is kind of like winning the NIT in college basketball.
 

Nick Kaufman

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I would say it's among the top 5 clubs over the past 10 years and winning the Europa league 3 (?) times like they did is considered I think a bigger accomplishment than the NIT. People do pay attention to it. But they have been relegated as recently as 20 years ago.
 

OCST

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As a fan of soccer generally who wants to see MLS continue on a success trajectory, it would be nice if Kraft tended to the soccer team he already owns. MLS is in the unique position that many of its founding franchises, like the Revs, Chicago Fire, Dallas, Colorado, etc. are relatively moribund, while newer entrants like Portland, Seattle, Atlanta are huge hits.

Boston should be a very successful MLS market. A soccer-only stadium in metro Boston would attract a huge following IMO.

Kraft should tend the home fires.
 

Titans Bastard

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Real Madrid or Barcelona have won the league 90% of the time for the last two decades, and Valencia is the only other team to win it.
No love for Super Depor??

Oddly enough, in the year that Deportivo La Coruña won (1999-00), both Sevilla and Atlético Madrid were relegated.
 

rguilmar

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It's hard to compare because La Liga is absurdly topheavy. Real Madrid or Barcelona have won the league 90% of the time for the last two decades, and Valencia is the only other team to win it. Sevilla has been mostly a middle of the pack team in the league for it's existence, and the only time it won the league was in 1946. It has had some success in the second tier international cup competition, the Europa league. But that is kind of like winning the NIT in college basketball.
Some Atletico and Deportivo fans might have issue with this.

Compared to college sports, I’d say think of a second tier team that’s tough to beat in the toughest conferences, like NC State or Maryland in ACC hoops or a Wisconsin on college football (couldn’t think of a SEC comparable off the top of my head). Not quite good enough to win the league usually, but good enough to give the elite teams a tough time. I haven’t watched college basketball in years, so the references might be dated.

This year’s Sevilla squad wasn’t as good as teams in the past, and they deservedly took Manchester United out of the Champions League. They’re usually in the 4-7 range on the table, but when Barcelona and Real Madrid are there, that’s definitely not too shabby.
 

Titans Bastard

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As a fan of soccer generally who wants to see MLS continue on a success trajectory, it would be nice if Kraft tended to the soccer team he already owns. MLS is in the unique position that many of its founding franchises, like the Revs, Chicago Fire, Dallas, Colorado, etc. are relatively moribund, while newer entrants like Portland, Seattle, Atlanta are huge hits.

Boston should be a very successful MLS market. A soccer-only stadium in metro Boston would attract a huge following IMO.

Kraft should tend the home fires.
Preach.
 

Infield Infidel

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It's hard to compare because La Liga is absurdly topheavy. Real Madrid or Barcelona have won the league 90% of the time for the last two decades, and Valencia is the only other team to win it. Sevilla has been mostly a middle of the pack team in the league for it's existence, and the only time it won the league was in 1946. It has had some success in the second tier international cup competition, the Europa league. But that is kind of like winning the NIT in college basketball.
Athletico won in 2014, but besides that, this is a two-team league.

Sevilla is an interesting choice, with some positives. They have been very good in Europa League, and they are the best and most consistent team in the southern part of Spain. Sevilla is the fourth largest city and metro. They share the city with Real Betis, who actually did better than Sevilla last season. Betis have also been relegated three times in the past 20 years. (I didn't realize Betis has the bigger stadium.). Sevilla's home stadium, The Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, is an iconic stadium (Spain has never lost there in 26 matches), but it seems it hasn't been significantly renovated (besides Fifa approved seating) since the eighties.

edit - sucky math
 
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Ale Xander

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As a fan of soccer generally who wants to see MLS continue on a success trajectory, it would be nice if Kraft tended to the soccer team he already owns. MLS is in the unique position that many of its founding franchises, like the Revs, Chicago Fire, Dallas, Colorado, etc. are relatively moribund, while newer entrants like Portland, Seattle, Atlanta are huge hits.

Boston should be a very successful MLS market. A soccer-only stadium in metro Boston would attract a huge following IMO.

Kraft should tend the home fires.
I would like to subscribe to your newsletter. A small soccer only stadium in A-B, or Som-Med-Cam or Dedham/JP, or maybe even Newton-Waltham would be awesome. That's where the fans are I would think.

And on real grass please.
 

shaggydog2000

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I would say it's among the top 5 clubs over the past 10 years and winning the Europa league 3 (?) times like they did is considered I think a bigger accomplishment than the NIT. People do pay attention to it. But they have been relegated as recently as 20 years ago.
I meant more that the NIT is a competition for teams that don't get picked for the premier tournament, just like the Europa league is. Winning it is a kind of weird achievement as a result.
 

67YAZ

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Probably a key factor is that La Liga has rebalanced its distribution of TV revenue and is looking ahead to a much larger deal in the near future. Kraft might think this is an opportune to buy in into La Liga: still cheaper than getting into the EPL, much more flexibility in budgeting than Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga, and starting to split a bigger revenue pie more equitably.

Also probably also helps that while La Liga has a Big 3, they also have 4 Champions League slots.
 

shaggydog2000

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Probably a key factor is that La Liga has rebalanced its distribution of TV revenue and is looking ahead to a much larger deal in the near future. Kraft might think this is an opportune to buy in into La Liga: still cheaper than getting into the EPL, much more flexibility in budgeting than Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga, and starting to split a bigger revenue pie more equitably.

Also probably also helps that while La Liga has a Big 3, they also have 4 Champions League slots.
That is a big deal. The reason it is so top heavy is usually attributed to the TV revenue disparity. And that 4th slot (because of how deep Barcelona and the Madrid teams usually go) gives you a good shot at champions league money. Now this makes much more sense.
 

nvalvo

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Athletico won in 2014, but besides that, this is a two-team league.

Sevilla is an interesting choice, with some positives. They have been very good in Europa League, and they are the best and most consistent team in the southern part of Spain. Sevilla is the fourth largest city and metro. They share the city with Real Betis, who actually did better than Sevilla last season. Betis have also been relegated three times in the past 20 years. (I didn't realize Betis has the bigger stadium.). Sevilla's home stadium, The Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, is an iconic stadium (Spain has never lost there in 26 matches), but it seems it hasn't been significantly renovated (besides Fifa approved seating) since the eighties.

edit - sucky math
The mosaico on the stadium is distinctive, and suitable for an Andalusian club. You'd want to keep that.



Seville also has a decent reputation for scouting, development and savvy transfer dealings. They buy low and sell high a lot on players, and thus a lot of recognizable players from well known clubs have had a season or two at Sevilla.
 

67YAZ

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Seville also has a decent reputation for scouting, development and savvy transfer dealings. They buy low and sell high a lot on players, and thus a lot of recognizable players from well known clubs have had a season or two at Sevilla.
The magic on Monchi, who now performs his wizardry for Roma. Such as getting €75m for a keeper...
 

bosox4283

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Sevilla is also the only big club left to purchase: Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Athletic Bilbao are owned by fans/supporters, while Atletico and Valencia are owned by rich international businessmen.

Maybe another person would consider buying Villarreal or Espanyol, but Sevilla has been a more consistent club, has a storied history, and has succeeded in Europe.
 

SocrManiac

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I had a post typed out as the first response in the thread, but abandoned it as I feared reprisal from the MLS folks here.

I was lukewarm at best on Revs games, but this is the stake in the heart for me.

Why should I care about a team the owners ignore while actively investing overseas in the same game? The Revs should be one of the hottest markets in the league. The stadium, the product on the field, and the overall fan experience are garbage.

I’ve read that the Revs are turning the profit that the owners want, thus the lack of investment. I don’t need a team I root for to win the league every year (though it’s been nice with Juventus...). I’d just like to see some sort of commitment to winning. It’s simply not there. To virtually ignore the Revolution and invest overseas is the last kick in the teeth my waning MLS fandom can take. Fuck the Revs.
 

slamminsammya

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I meant more that the NIT is a competition for teams that don't get picked for the premier tournament, just like the Europa league is. Winning it is a kind of weird achievement as a result.
Its more like if the teams that lost in the sweet 16 then had their own tournament shadowing the rest of the NCAA tourney.
 

thehitcat

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I had a post typed out as the first response in the thread, but abandoned it as I feared reprisal from the MLS folks here.

I was lukewarm at best on Revs games, but this is the stake in the heart for me.

Why should I care about a team the owners ignore while actively investing overseas in the same game? The Revs should be one of the hottest markets in the league. The stadium, the product on the field, and the overall fan experience are garbage.

I’ve read that the Revs are turning the profit that the owners want, thus the lack of investment. I don’t need a team I root for to win the league every year (though it’s been nice with Juventus...). I’d just like to see some sort of commitment to winning. It’s simply not there. To virtually ignore the Revolution and invest overseas is the last kick in the teeth my waning MLS fandom can take. Fuck the Revs.
The only potential silver lining I can see here (and I really have to squint) is if Mr. Kraft uses Sevilla and their resources to help the Revs (and vice versa I guess.) Basically in a similar way to the way the two New York teams are run (or Watford with Udinese and Granada I believe?) Allowing for players to more easily be loaned between the clubs and potentially using pooled resources to buy players that would normally be out of reach of any one single entity.

Maybe this also signals that he wants to sell the Revs but that seems even more far fetched.
 

Titans Bastard

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I had a post typed out as the first response in the thread, but abandoned it as I feared reprisal from the MLS folks here.
Ridiculous! Nobody shits on the Revs & the Krafts more than MLS folks. :)
 

teddykgb

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Jonathan Kraft was on the radio today saying all the right things about wanting a soccer specific stadium in Boston. Also said that he knows people don’t believe them when they say this but they hope to get there with the current mayor while heavily implicating Menino as a blocker in the past. I remain skeptical and they are smart enough over there to trot him out and do lip service when a deal like this is announced but maybe they’ll surprise us.
 

InstaFace

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Yeah, Sevilla is one of the better teams in the league, occasionally makes noises, occasionally makes the champions league, and the last few seasons had a pair of excellent managers who helped them punch above their weight, Unai Emery (who has not repeated his successes at PSG, and now will start at Arsenal in the fall), and then Jorge Sampaoli (who has now left to coach the Argentina national team).

Winning the Europa League is way better than winning the NIT. For one thing, the teams who win it have often dropped down from finishing 3rd in the Champions League group stage, and then they have to win 5 consecutive double-legged knockout rounds. As we've seen recently, winning knockout-play football is a different art than the long campaign of a league, so winning Europa 3 times in a row is surely something extraordinary. Not "Leicester City, champions of England" extraordinary, but it will be part of Emery's epitaph.

They have a lot of good-to-great players, including several international-team players for Spain and Argentina, as well as France (Steven Nzonzi), Portugal (Daniel Carriço) and Colombia (Luis Muriel). If they played in the EPL they'd probably finish mid-table. Solid finances from what I can briefly tell. They'll never win a Champions League but they'll be an exciting team with some punch pretty much every year.
 

Carbo Loading

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Hold on this might have been fake news....

https://www.boston.com/sports/soccer/2018/07/19/how-robert-kraft-became-the-subject-of-a-fake-soccer-report-started-by-spanish-nfl-fans

Reported by numerous sports outlets across multiple continents, Robert Kraft was allegedly pondering the purchase of a 40 percent stake in Spanish soccer club Sevilla. It’s not an outlandish possibility. Kraft, after all, has been linked with buying European teams before.

And this isn’t to say that the Kraft Group might not still bid for Sevilla (officially, the Group offered no comment on the story).
The only issue with this particular rumor was that it was completely made up. And yet, like a giant game of unverified telephone, the rumor made its way from Twitter to local Spanish media, escalating to national Spanish media, and at some point transformed into an international story.