Stephen Ross, the owner of the Miami Dolphins, is thinking about purchasing Atletico Madrid.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71993726/1455492617.0.jpg)
According to reports from Jugones on La Sexta, Miami Dolphins owner Stephen M. Ross is considering buying Spanish soccer team Atlético Madrid.
Josep Pedrerol stated on Jugones that Atlético Madrid has already initiated communication with the other party as the club starts the process of being sold. It happens eighteen months after Miguel Ángel Gil Marín, the club’s current owner, said he thought “someone will take over.”
After paying a total of $1.1 billion in two separate transactions in 2008 and 2009, Ross now owns 95% of the Dolphins and their stadium. The Dolphins are valued at $5.7 billion by Forbes. It’s thought that he is now focusing on soccer and Spain.
Ross would become the first foreign owner of the team and only the second since the club was owned entirely by its supporters, assuming the deal is finalized, which is uncertain as the sale still appears to be in its early stages.
After Real Madrid and Barcelona, the two biggest teams in the Clásico, Atlético is the third-biggest in Spain. The club was established in 1903 and has won 11 LALIGA titles, the most recent coming in 2021. They also own three Europa League trophies and ten Copa del Rey titles. They have become known as one of the main players in European soccer as a result of this.
Diego Simeone, their coach, was a member of the team and has been out of the game for more than ten years. The club’s management has received praise from many in Spanish soccer for their stability and consistency in sticking with the man who is regarded as their all-time greatest coach.
The Current Ownership Structure of Atlético Madrid
The club is one of the most valuable sports teams in Spain, with a Forbes valuation of 328 million euros ($353 million). Atlético HoldCo. currently owns 70.42 percent of the club, with Idan Ofer holding a 27.8 percent share and club members holding a symbolic share of less than one percent.
The two largest shareholders of the club form Atlético HoldCo. Miguel Ángel Gil Marín holds 46.7% of the shares, of which 43.7% are held in the name of Holding de Inversiones Atléticas SA. Enrique Cerezo is the second owner, holding 15.2% of the shares, of which Videomercury Films owns 12.6%.
Gil Marín, a vice president of LALIGA, is the son of the controversial Spanish businessman Jesús Gil y Gil. Along with club president Cerezo, he has been the public face of the organization since taking on the largest ownership stake.
At number 92 on the 2023 Forbes Rich List, with an estimated net worth of 350 million euros ($376 million), he is one of Spain’s wealthiest businessmen.
Recent months have seen a number of hints that a sale may occur. In May, Cerezo told ABC that “we’ll listen” to anyone who is interested in making an offer for Atlético.
Any sale is likely to include the club’s sporting city project, which has been spearheaded by Gil Marín and Cerezo within the club and has an estimated completion date of 2026. The project’s goal is to construct a new training ground facility and public space alongside the Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano on the outskirts of Madrid.
