Boston Red Sox owners set to buy Liverpool FC

Fans are unhappy with how Hicks and Gillett are

running the club. (Image courtesy of teamtalk.com)

This is an update to my previous blog post (on 24th September) about Liverpool’s rising debts. It seems the Liverpool board has finally found a solution to their financial woes. This article from Bloomberg says that the owners of the American baseball team, the Boston Red Sox, will take over the beleaguered club – for 300 million pounds.

Bloomberg is one of the world’s major news corporations, so we can believe this piece of news. Reporter Tariq Panja has done a decent job too.

There's tension in the story - which is good. It seems that current co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett, oppose the deal and the real reason is that they aren’t being paid 600 million pounds. Perhaps Panja could have mentioned something about this reason. Why the two co-owners can’t stop the sale of their own club, could also have been elaborated on more.

The choice of sources is good though, and adds credibility to the story. There are quotes from Martin Broughton, the Liverpool chairman and from a spokesperson for New England Sports Ventures (NESV), the likely buyer. Chairman Broughton has a direct influence in Liverpool’s affairs and NESV has just won the bid for the club, so their views would add interest to the story.

The providing of supporting facts are good too, because this gives concrete information to back up the article – like the new owner’s plans for the Anfield stadium. There’s also mention of the future stadium’s capacity, plans to win trophies and wipe out debts. This makes the article more informative.

Those who haven’t been following the issue can understand the story readily too, because Panja has provided adequate background information – like details of the Red Sox. This is good, as reporters shouldn’t assume their readers have been following the issue throughout.

Providing email addresses of Panja and the editor at the end of the article is a good tactic - it is ideal for online readers to inquire more about the story - and for the writer to obtain feedback.