Dodgers co-owner strikes out in bid for English Premier League club Chelsea

Eden Hazard celebrates with the trophy after Chelsea's victory over Manchester United in the English FA Cup final May 19, 2018.

Staff Writer

Dec. 10, 2019 6:33 PM PT

The Dodgers could have faced the Rams ... on the pitch, that is.

Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly recently offered to buy Chelsea of the English Premier League, but the bid was not accepted, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. The asking price for the team is $3 billion, or $1 billion more than Boehly and his Guggenheim Baseball partners paid to buy the Dodgers in 2012, in what was then a world-record price for a sports team.

Boehly and his partners in the Chelsea bid could raise their offer and try again. The value of their initial offer was not reported.

The potential deal would have put owners of two of Los Angeles’ premier sports franchises in charge of two of England’s most storied soccer clubs. Rams owner Stan Kroenke owns Arsenal, although his family’s stewardship has not been well-received.

John Henry is the principal owner of the Boston Red Sox and the celebrated Premier League club Liverpool FC, which this year won the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Super Cup — beating Chelsea for the latter title.

Billy Beane, the president of baseball operations for the Oakland Athletics, is an owner of Barnsley FC, which plays in the Championship, the tier below the Premier League.

Beane’s investment was greeted in the Express with a headline that started with these words: “Billy Beane: Who is he? What is Moneyball?”