Hibs optimistic as Bill Foley investment D-day arrives

Hibs chiefs are due to meet with their Scottish FA counterparts today with a view to getting the green light for the US billionaire to invest in the Capital club and potentially bring to an end a six-week saga since the news was first announced during which, in all honesty, not a great deal has actually happened beyond a lot of inter-supporter discussion about what it might mean for the Easter Road side. 

Texan businessman Foley, 78, already owns English Premier League side Bournemouth, as well as a significant minority stake in French Ligue 1 side Lorient. He has recently been granted a licence to run an A-League expansion team in Auckland, New Zealand, from the start of the 2024/25 season. As well as his football clubs he is the owner of the Vegas Golden Knights ice hockey team, and is running the rule over a number of clubs in the Netherlands with a view to adding to his ever-expanding sports portfolio. 

So with that rather important meeting taking place at Hampden before Hibs travel to face St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park on Saturday, let's take a closer look at what it all means.

Foley's football fancies

Fewer than ten years ago, Foley was largely unknown to large swathes of the American public. Although hardly the stereotypical reclusive tycoon, he was content with running his numerous interests such as wineries, golf courses, and hotels, alongside his main role with insurance firm Fidelity National Financial.

His first flirtation with the world of sport came when he explored the possibility of  buying American football team the Jacksonville Jaguars, prior to Shahid Khan buying the team shortly before purchasing Fulham from Mohamed Al Fayed. 

Although mostly raised in Texas, part of Foley's childhood was spent in Ottawa when his father was stationed there by the US Air Force. While in Canada, the young Foley developed a love for ice hockey that he retains to this day. So maybe it wasn't a huge surprise when his Black Knight Sports & Entertainment group began building the Vegas Golden Knights empire.

Black Knight Football Club

Foley serves as the managing partner and figurehead of Black Knight Football Club (BKFC), a holding company registered in the United States as a limited partnership,  comprising multiple investors including actor Michael B Jordan.  Many of the investors involved with BKFC are also involved with the Vegas Golden Knights. 

BKFC owns 100% of Bournemouth through the UK-based Turquoise Bidco Limited company, and as mentioned, is a significant minority investor in Lorient through a similar, France-based company. In September 2023, Ryan Sports Ventures - the sports investment arm of the Chicago-based Ryan family, purchased a minority stake in BKFC. Headed up by philanthropist and founder of Aon Corporation Pat Ryan, who is worth a cool $9.6bn according to Forbes, the family has held a minority stake in the Chicago Bears NFL team since the Eighties, and through Ryan Sports Ventures, holds interests in several sports data and analytics companies.

The Black Knight reference is almost certainly a nod to the similarly-named sports teams during Foley's time at West Point, the US military academy, prior to joining the US Air Force in the 1960s. 

As of January 2023 Foley owned 30% of BKFE, who bought Bournemouth in December last year before shortly acquiring a reported 33% stake in Lorient. He is keen to gradually progress his involvement with the Breton side to 100% ownership on what he has referred to as a 'phased basis', but there has been no talk of him doing likewise with Hibs, which may bode well for this week's meeting at the national stadium. 

What the Scottish FA rules say, and what history tells us

Put simply, rules in Scotland state that anyone who owns, or has an interest in another club anywhere else in the world, is permitted to invest up to a maximum of a 24.9% shareholding in a Scottish team.

Article 13 of the Scottish FA handbook states as follows: 

"Except with the prior written consent of the Board:-

a) no club or nominee of a club; and

b) no person, whether absolutely or as a trustee, either alone or in conjunction with one or more associates or solely through an associate or associates (even where such person has no formal interest), who:-

1. is a member of a club: or
2. is involved in any capacity whatsoever in the management or administration of a club; or
3. has any power whatsoever to influence the management or administration of a club,

may at the same time either directly or indirectly:-

a) be a member of another club; or

b) be involved in any capacity whatsoever in the management or administration of another club; or

c) have any power whatsoever to influence the management or administration of another club."

All very straightforward, and as things stand decisions are made on a case-by-case basis. You may recall Sports Direct supremo Mike Ashley acquiring an 8.92% stake in Rangers' parent company in October 2014, which was approved by the Scottish FA. But when he requested to raise his shareholding to 29.9%, the application was blocked. Citing Article 13.6 - 'the Board... is required to have due regard to the need to promote and safeguard the interests and public profile of association football, its players, spectators and others involved with the game' - the Scottish FA 'decided, unanimously, that the application should not be granted'. Essentially, Ashley's ownership of Newcastle  was seen as incompatible with his desire to increase his stake in the Ibrox side. 

Across the city, Celtic's largest individual shareholder Dermot Desmond also held a stake in Manchester United, which he sold to Malcolm Glazer in 2005, before investing €2 million in League of Ireland side Shamrock Rovers in return for a 25% stake. With Foley only interested in a minority shareholding in Hibs Desmond may have set a precedent, with Easter Road chiefs broadly optimistic of a positive outcome at Thursday's meeting. 

Adhering to 'the Hibernian way'?

Foley is not the only person to have signalled an interest in investing in Hibs in the last few months but with the Gordon family committed to carrying on the work and fulfilling the legacy of the late Ron Gordon, the former executive chairman of Hibs who passed away in February, Foley is the first potential investor to fit the family's vision for the club on and off the park. 

The open letter in which Foley outlined his own vision for Auckland's A-League expansion team possibly tells us more about how closely the two parties are aligned.

“Our vision for the club is to become part of the community, help inspire young people to pick up the game, and give football fans the chance to see, and follow, an elite level of the sport in your own backyard. We look forward to fielding a men’s team less than a year from now and a women’s team a year later, in the 2025-26 season.

“But we don’t plan to passively see the impact this club has. That’s not how my teams have operated in Las Vegas or Bournemouth, and won’t be in Auckland either. We will invest our time and money to promote the growth of the game throughout the community while also building for success on the pitch.

“In Las Vegas, we have invested in ice hockey facilities and put sticks in the hands of local students. The result was a more than 400% growth in youth hockey participation across the state in the short time the Golden Knights have existed. It has been extremely rewarding to witness that growth, while also celebrating the success of our professional players raising the Stanley Cup.

“We have owned AFC Bournemouth for less than a year, but have already committed to giving back to the young players in the community. We have been particularly active on the girls and women’s side and look forward to continued growth there. Meanwhile, we are moving toward completion of building a world-class training facility in Bournemouth, a key component in developing some of the best talent in the sport."

The Gordons have already revamped Easter Road stadium and financed the replacement of the stadium's pitch and surfaces at the club's Ormiston training complex. The focus on the community and boosting youth and women's football will have also presumably struck a chord. The line, 'promoting the growth of the game throughout the community while also building for success on the pitch' could have been taken from the Gordon football club ownership manual - if such a thing existed. 

He said likewise about his work at Bournemouth: "We need to be embedded in the community and vice-versa but we don't want to scrap established traditions. We want to make improvements and be a bit different, but I'm very cognisant of the history of Bournemouth."

With Foley focused on a minority stake the Gordons can continue leading the club on and off the park, and not much should change on the footballing side of things, with Hibs retaining full technical control. BKFC's involvement would likely boost the sharing of data and analysis between member clubs - during the summer Bournemouth signed Romain Faivre from Lyon, following a successful loan spell with Lorient, and loaned him back to Les Merlus for the current campaign with a view to him joining the Cherries first-team squad for the 2024/25 season. He currently has five goals and one assist from 15 Ligue 1 matches. 

That's just one example of many. Hibs would have no obligation to take a player from one of the other BKFC teams, but having a pathway for younger players to climb the footballing ladder could be beneficial for clubs and the players, and the wider group. 

Foley has already spoken of his intention to get a Scottish team regularly finishing third and playing in Europe. "I know we can help a Scottish team," he said on one podcast appearance. From a quick glance, Hibs would appear to be better placed than Bournemouth and Lorient to qualify for Europe, with the French side currently occupying the relegation play-off place and the Cherries 14th and 11 points off the automatic Europa League group stage spot in the English Premier League. 

Would it take much to get Hibs regularly competing in Europe, in terms of time and money? Probably not. Investing in Hibs would secure Foley a team in a metropolitan European capital city with a lot of good infrastructure already in place, a decent fanbase, an average attendance greater than Bournemouth and at least on a par with Lorient.

Assuming the Scottish FA green-light the investment at today's meeting, it remains to be seen if everything can be signed, sealed, and delivered before the January window. But barring any unexpected turns of events, things could be about to get very interesting down Easter Road way.