Latest news with #TomWagner
The Guardian
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Tom Brady's Birmingham primed to touch down in the Championship
Unsurprisingly, Tom Brady, a seven-time Super Bowl champion and global sporting icon, is braced for the challenges that await Birmingham City, where he is a minority owner. 'Just because you were successful last year doesn't mean you're going to be successful this year,' he says, alluding to a season that culminated in promotion and a record-breaking tally of 111 points. 'You have to put the same amount of work, commitment and discipline in – sometimes more – because the stakes only get higher. When the competition gets tougher, the margin of error gets smaller.' It is his final answer in an interview that takes in everything from the 'blue-collar nature of Birmingham', which he compares with Cleveland and Cincinnati, to the Championship landscape and the bubbling rivalry with Aston Villa, which he was educated on during his first visit to England's second-biggest city after acquiring his 3.3% stake. It is a moment detailed in the opening scene of Built in Birmingham: Brady & the Blues, the Prime Video documentary series released on Friday, as he travels past a giant mural depicting Jude Bellingham and Trevor Francis. 'What's the other team here?' he asks. 'Fuck them … gonna fuck them up too,' he says, smiling. Brady and Tom Wagner, the Birmingham chairman, are in bullish moods for our interview. Wagner's mantra is 'if you can't say it, you can't do it' and he is adamant Birmingham will return to the Premier League. But when? 'The sooner the better,' he replies. 'I think it would be great for the city of Birmingham to have an inner-city derby that brings fans together in a non-violent way; we don't want it to be peaceful, we don't want it to be violent either, but we want to allow them the joy of experiencing that great rivalry again. I love reading the comments from Villa supporters, but I think it's beyond that. There's so many other great clubs we would love to compete against.' The series contains colourful characters, differing generations of supporters. 'We've had so many rebirths,' says one, Paul Collins, 'but they've all been phantom pregnancies.' There is a potted history taking in Barry Fry urinating in all four corners of St Andrew's to lift a curse and other amusing moments. 'I fell in love with fixing businesses,' says Wagner, the co-founder of Knighthead Capital, the multibillion investment fund that acquired a controlling stake two years ago. On their arrival at Birmingham, one-third of the ground had been condemned, there was no hot water in the men's toilets and no heating in the executive offices. 'We're not even close to being done, and now we're embarking on an even more ambitious feat,' Wagner says of plans to build a sports quarter on a 60-acre site with a 62,000-seat stadium, more than double the current capacity. 'We want to compete at the top level of the Championship [this season].' After their final home game last season, Wagner enjoyed a mic-drop moment, telling those present: 'The best part of the story is just beginning. I promise you this is not the best day we will enjoy together.' Perhaps the most surreal moment of the series is Sir David Beckham, among the VIP guests for Birmingham's home win over Wrexham last September, explaining to Brady the insulting chants Birmingham fans are directing at their Welsh counterparts. What else did Beckham teach him that night? Brady laughs. 'A few things that were being said … some of it I couldn't really fully understand because there's some thick accents that I'm not 100% educated on yet, but David's helped me out.' Another time we see Brady mastering his pronunciation of Birmingham en route to the training ground. 'I learned that pretty early on. When I first did my social media video [announcing my involvement], they said: 'It's Birmingham, not Birming-ham.'' Wrexham, also promoted last season, have become friendly foes. Wagner says other teams 'want in' on Birmingham's brewing competition with the Welsh club, owned by the Hollywood pair Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds. 'Rivalries are very important because they allow you to focus at a different level: your concentration, effort, it all becomes very maximised when you're playing against these rivals,' Brady says. 'The fundamentals of the sport [football], the tactics, are different to American football. It's a different sport but the values are very much the same.' After that win over Wrexham, there is a snapshot into the bigger picture, a reminder that this is business after Wagner congratulates manager, Chris Davies, and his staff. 'I'm going to go back upstairs, we've got 1,000 people we're trying to get to spend money in the club so that you guys can spend more next summer,' says Wagner, a former certified public accountant on Wall Street. One of his primary aims is building revenues to close the gap to clubs awarded parachute payments. Asked whether the numbers are where he expected this summer, Wagner says they have smashed this season's original target. 'My team loves it when they achieve a goal and I say: 'Well, now it's 10% higher',' he says. Commercial deals with Nike and Delta Air Lines help. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion 'We've achieved levels of revenue that no one has ever done in the Championship, save for clubs receiving parachute payments,' Wagner says. 'So, if we were to fast-forward a year – if we were fortunate enough to get promoted – our first year in the Premier League, I think we'll fall mid-table in total revenues, which is unheard of for a club just entering into the Prem. That's the way we think about the club and that's what our objectives are aimed towards – not just getting to the Prem, but then being there for good, and then ultimately becoming competitive.' Birmingham are looking forward but the appointment of Wayne Rooney backfired. The first episode touches on Rooney's tenure: two wins in 15 matches and 83 days in charge, a run that paved the way to relegation. Wagner says now he 'wouldn't trade that history for the world, because the lessons were invaluable'. We see an awkward, small talk exchange between Brady and Rooney and, later, with Brady stewing in the car after leaving the training ground, comes a telling remark. 'I'm a little bit worried about our head coach's work ethic,' Brady says. Rooney was sacked in January 2024 and Brady is reluctant to linger on the past: 'I have very high expectations for myself and certainly for a club and people I associate with, and I have a tremendous amount of respect for Wayne. He's one of the greatest players to step on to a football pitch. And that was a couple of years ago, at this point Chris is our manager … I love Chris's work ethic, attitude, determination and humility.' On deadline day last summer, Birmingham made a splash after signing Jay Stansfield for a record-breaking £15m fee from Fulham. Episode three focuses on the England Under-21 striker's return to Exeter City, for whom his late father, Adam, also played. We hear from Taylor, one of Stansfield's younger brothers, who joined Birmingham as kit man during Stansfield's loan at the club, and their mother, Marie. 'As a footballer, he is just like his dad … he even runs like his dad,' she says. 'They both run with their pinky finger out,' Taylor says, smiling. Marie is in the stand opposite the one renamed after Adam, which Stansfield blows a kiss towards after scoring a penalty. Birmingham have been aggressive in the market this summer, too, with the returning Demarai Gray and the former Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi two of eight signings. More new faces are expected to follow. So, how does Wagner reflect on his time as chair? 'I think the biggest metric for us is the increased amount of interest that we have in the club from new and existing supporters, where we're now enjoying record levels of season-ticket sales,' he says of the 20,000 signed up this season and referencing the 15,000-strong season-ticket waiting list, a first for the club. It is apt that Birmingham host Ipswich, the last team to win back-to-back promotions to the Premier League, in the Championship curtain-raiser a week on Friday. The final episode takes in one of few hiccups under Knighthead: defeat in the Vertu Trophy final at Wembley in April. 'I don't like losing,' says Wagner. 'I'll back that up,' says Brady. 'We sold 50,000 tickets and when the last ticket sold, there were 23,000 people on the phone waiting to purchase tickets,' Wagner adds. 'Whatever we're doing seems to be resonating with people, in that they want to be a part of the journey. We knew it was a big club with a lot of supporters but I don't think we appreciated how many live and die with us on match day.'
Bloomberg
17 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Birmingham City FC Boss Sees Opportunity for US Investors in UK
Tom Wagner, the owner of Birmingham City FC who is behind a major development of the UK's second biggest city, believes the exit of investors from the UK is an advantage for US backers. 'I think we have seen as a result of some policy changes, some capital has left the UK,' the hedge fund manager said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. 'I hope that American investors will fill that void. We are beginning to see that with inbound investment into housing in London specifically.'
BBC News
19-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Birmingham Sports Quarter - what you need to know
Plans for a new Sports Quarter in Birmingham are moving forward, with billions of pounds earmarked for the project and excitement growing in the city. The project is being led by the US owners of Birmingham City Football Club (BCFC) and at the heart of the plans is its new 62,000-seat Tom Wagner, co-founder of Knighthead Capital Management, says the benefits will be felt far beyond Blues fans, with transport links transformed, thousands of jobs created and a super stadium to hold world-class City Council has stated the quarter would be a "sporting centre of excellence". Here we explore where the Sports Quarter will be, what will be in it and when it might become a reality. What will be in the Sports Quarter? Wagner told BBC Sport in June his vision was to create "an entertainment venue unlike many others in the world". The plans include a 62,000-seat stadium, more than double the capacity of the current Blues ground. Wagner said it would also include a 15,000 to 20,000-seat arena and a show pitch."The goal will be to host a whole range of international events not solely in football but [including] American football and rugby," he said. Birmingham City FC has said the multi-use stadium will include a retractable pitch to allow for concerts and other non-sporting events to take will build a training complex for their professional senior teams and academies, and the site is set to also include community pitches, retail and education. "There will be provision for housing and hotels, recreational facilities and plenty of green space," the club said. Wagner told the BBC it was a "unique opportunity"."If you were to look across western Europe, you would be hard-pressed to find another city with that much land available within walking distance of the city centre, where a project of this magnitude can be created and done so in an economically viable way," he said. Alongside these plans, Wagner and his team have strong ambitions for the Blues, who were promoted from League One last season with a record 108-point haul. Where will the Sports Quarter be? When Knighthead bought Blues in July 2023, they told fans they believed the club's potential was "unlimited".Less than a year later, in April 2024, they completed the purchase of the 48-acre former Birmingham Wheels motorsport site in Bordesley, less than a mile away from St Andrews, the club's home since Wheels closed in 2021, after 40 years of hosting go-karting, stock car racing and skating events, and was once the home of the Birmingham Brummies speedway team. The city council-owned site had long been touted as a potential development site for Birmingham City, and its future had been hanging in the balance for some than £17m of the government's Levelling Up Fund was allocated to it for remediation site off Adderley Road is in a key - but deprived - location, ripe for redevelopment. It is less than a mile from the city centre, just off the ring road and close to Adderley Park railway has said the site was "not serving the local community" despite being surrounded by hundreds of homes. How will transport links be transformed? The project really gained momentum last month, when Chancellor Rachel Reeves visited St Andrews and announced a £2.4bn investment in West Midlands transport links, with the Sports Quarter at the heart of the masterplan. A planned extension of the Midland Metro would mean a direct tram route to the Sports the East Birmingham Metro to North Solihull Metro Extension, it will take people from the Eastside area of the city and serve the likes of Millennium Point, Birmingham City University, the Curzon Street HS2 station and Digbeth. Digbeth is home to the Digbeth Loc. Studios, set up by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, and construction is under way for the BBC's new Tea Factory base. Longer term, this tram line is planned to take passengers to North Solihull - including to Birmingham Airport, the NEC and the HS2 Interchange. How will the community benefit from a Sports Quarter? The government has estimated the project would transform the Bordesley area of Birmingham, creating 8,400 new jobs and driving further investment from private firms. Wagner is expected to invest up to £ Richard Parker told BBC WM presenter Ed James many of the jobs were expected to be the first jobs of young people from the surrounding communities. starting out in employment. He explained this was "really important because this part of the city is one of the most deprived", and he and Wagner hoped to open up job opportunities for young Blues chairman has said the club had a proud history of giving back to the local community and the project would deliver opportunities "and prosperity lasting generations in one of the poorest parts of the whole of the country". "And that's something in which we should all be very proud," he added. Who is behind the project? In June 2023, the English Football League approved US-based Shelby Companies Ltd's takeover of Birmingham Companies is a subsidiary of Knighthead, which was co-founded by Tom Wagner and Ara Cohen in 2008. Wagner told Blues supporters in an open letter that Knighthead's expertise was in "turning around and transforming organisations that are experiencing difficulties". He wants fans to be involved in the journey. Parker said Wagner had been looking to get a foothold in the sports industry in the UK and "had made his money by investing in what have been unloved and neglected" assets, adding, "Let's be frank, the football club had been for a number of decades." Excitement grew when Tom Brady, the NFL quarterback and seven-time Super Bowl winner, became a minority owner of the Championship club months after retiring in 2023. Wagner said Brady was investing and "committing his time and extensive expertise". When will the Sports Quarter become a reality? Wagner told BBC Sport they expected the club to be using its new stadium in the 2030/31 season, which was the timeline that looked "most achievable at present". Certainly, the government investment was a turning point when many started to believe the Sports Quarter would become a O'Neill and his son Matt, who co-host the BCFC Royal Blue podcast, told followers it was a "huge" day for the club which would sway "even the most sceptical fan" who had not dared to believe it would said the proposal was initially "laughed at" by some people on social media and attracted lots of comments from other fan bases but now felt real."This just feels like something special," he said. The Midland Metro Alliance said initial development for the East Birmingham to Solihull link was under way by Transport for West Midlands. "As with other new light rail schemes, the extension will require a Transport and Works Act Order application to be submitted, providing the powers to construct, maintain and operate the tramway" on that route. Richard Parker said the owners were aiming to secure outline planning permission soon and after that were looking to make "real progress" with the stadium by 2028/ also told the BBC a task force was put together to drive the Sports Quarter project and help the key stakeholders work together with clarity about their objectives. "The pace of this is phenomenal," he said, adding the sense of ambition shown by Wagner, Steven Knight and others committed to the city had "captured the imagination, not just of people in this region, but of government too". Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
24-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Birmingham appoint Dale CEO on permanent basis
Birmingham City have appointed Jeremy Dale as the club's chief executive on a permanent has been doing the job on an interim basis since replacing Gary Cook, who stood down for personal reasons, in club said former Microsoft executive Dale, who helped broker the successful takeover of Blues by American owners Knighthead in 2023, had brought a "dynamic blend of strategic leadership, operational excellence, and lifelong passion for Blues" to the will continue to oversee strategic development along with day-to-day operations and performance, as well as "accelerating commercial growth, and engage fans and partners across all levels". Dale said it was "an honour" to become the permanent CEO, adding the opportunity the role presented working with the club's owners was "huge".Blues chairman and co-owner Tom Wagner said, external the club had made "significant progress" under Dale and were "excited for his continued leadership as we maintain our focus on executing our long-term strategy and building a strong foundation for the future".Wagner, whose colleagues on the Blues board include NFL legend Tom Brady as a minority owner, is targeting a return to the Premier League following the club's record-breaking promotion from League One last big-spending owners are also keen to build a new 62,000-seater stadium to replace their current home St Andrew's as part of a planned 125-acre 'Sports Quarter' development to the east of the plans were recently boosted by the government's decision to invest £2.4bn in a local transport link to the proposed site.
BBC News
09-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Phoenix investor Wagner has 'confidence' in deal
Birmingham Phoenix's US investor Tom Wagner says he has "every confidence" a deal for the Hundred franchise will be finalised, and he remains "committed" to the of shares in the eight teams, worth around £520m, were announced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in an eight-week exclusivity period to agree terms was extended in March, and there remains no clarity on when contracts will be Knighthead Capital agreed to pay £40m for a 49% share in the speaking publicly about the reasons behind the delay for the first time, the American told BBC Sport: "What everybody wants is the ability to make The Hundred even more commercially viable and to grow the product."It really should see more exposure globally, so I think a number of the conversations are around how that happens and what timeframe, how that moves forward."There's a good alignment of interests and, as is the case with any negotiations, there's always a bit of back and forth."There is no suggestion that any of the deals will fall through, however there is the possibility they will not be completed before this year's edition begins on 5 ECB confirmed the extension of the exclusivity period more than two months the time, the prospective buyers of the two London franchises raised concerns over the competition's participation American consortium of tech billionaires agreed to pay £145m for a 49% stake in Lord's-based London Spirit, while India's richest family - the Ambanis - purchased the same stake in the Oval Invincibles for £60m. There have also been discussions over the sale of future TV rights. The current United Kingdom TV deal, principally held by Sky, expires in 2028. When it is renegotiated, rights for The Hundred will again be sold as a complete package, rather than separated from international and other domestic TV rights, seen as a key area of growth, are piecemeal. Deals for separate competitions or series arise at different added: "I won't comment on the specific negotiations but what I will say is we're very excited at the prospect of investing in the Phoenix."We're committed to it, we're excited by it and I have every confidence we'll get to closing."The Knighthead Group also includes legendary NFL quarterback Tom Brady. They are already owners of Birmingham City, and last week the prospect of a new 62,000-seater stadium as part of a £3 billion 'Sports Quarter' took a significant step forward when the government confirmed £2.4bn investment in transport who founded Knighthead, said: "We think it's a fantastic opportunity. It shows our commitment to Birmingham, beyond simply Birmingham City Football Club."We really, genuinely want to see Birmingham continue to develop and grow. The Phoenix is a great way to expand the exposure of the city to a broader, more global audience. It's also a way for us to tie-in to the substantial south Asian community that is here in Birmingham."Proceeds from the sales will be shared among the 18 first-class counties, Marylebone Cricket Club and the domestic game in England and ECB will retain overall control of the competition, but investors could change the name, colours and branding of their teams. The American investor in Welsh Fire has already said he would prefer The Hundred to switch to a T20 if deals are completed before the beginning of the 2025 competition, there is little change expected this year. Both the ECB and the investors see it as a transitional season.
