49ers ‘financial power’ for Leeds and Rangers as Marathe’s ‘top dog’ revealed
Leeds chairman Paraag Marathe is leading a bid for 49ers Enterprises to complete a takeover at Scottish Premiership side Rangers.
Marathe, who is the president of the investment arm of the NFL franchise San Francisco 49ers, is reportedly in advanced talks alongside fellow American investors over a new to buy into Rangers.
While a completed deal for the Glasgow giants could benefit Leeds in certain ways, football finance expert Dan Plumley has suggested there may end up being some friction about who’d be “top dog” between them and the Whites.
Leeds and Rangers to both benefit from 49ers financial might
According to Plumley, the 49ers have amassed enough wealth that they should easily be able to inject an impressive amount of funding at both Elland Road and Ibrox.
However, it remains to be seen which of the two clubs Marathe and co would lean towards with both of them being working projects.
“For Leeds, it is mostly positive news right now,” Plumley told MOT Leeds News.
“It’s the brand tie-in and commercial leverage that could work in their favour, especially if they get back to the Premier League.
“There’s no real issue at the minute of the two clubs ever meeting as well.
“There will be questions about what funds go where and who is the top dog [out of Leeds and Rangers]. However, the financial power is there to cover both and we have seen this multi-club ownership model become a coveted one with American investors so it fits with the trend.“
49ers to create happy synergy between Leeds and Rangers
While Rangers are always going to be competing for major silverware and Scotland and are also going to be playing in the Champions League or Europa League, Leeds look likely to be in the Premier League next season and have one of the biggest fanbases in the country.
Rangers have a lot of catching up to do to match Celtic though and Leeds are also planning to expand Elland Road to meet the rising demand for tickets.
Both clubs need a lot of investment to get to where they want to be and 49ers Enterprises, who have a net worth exceeding $5billion, have plenty of cash to do that in both Glasgow and West Yorkshire.
However, with Red Bull buying into Leeds and the Whites mainly running on the money they’ve made from transfers since Andrea Radrizzani sold up to the 49ers in July 2023, there’s no suggestion that the Americans will pump huge sums of cash into either side any time soon.