Houston Dash in Talks to Sell for $120M to Young Investor

Watch Houston Dash in Talks to Sell for $120M to Young Investor - SportsGrid on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00Let's move to the NWSL. As Sportico says, the Houston Dash are in advanced talks to sell the

00:05team. This to a group led by a 24-year-old with ties to China and would value the franchise at

00:11$120 million. The Dash are currently owned by Ted Siegel. He also owns the MLS Houston Dynamo.

00:18And the $120 million sale would represent a major jump for the Dash, that from their last valuation

00:23of just $74 million. And they were sort of at the bottom end of the teams in terms of valuation

00:28in the NWSL. They are. And the Dash have struggled not only on the pitch in terms of soccer, but also

00:33with other issues around their front office. I mean, last season alone, they had their goalkeeper

00:37coach fired after an investigation for inappropriate sexual relations with a player. They also had

00:43their president who, excuse me, the head coach who disappeared from June and then was officially

00:49parted ways with the club as Fran Alonzo moved on. They got rid of their GM as well and did not have

00:55the GM until December when they were finally able to replace Alex Singer. So it was a really messy

01:002024 season. This season hasn't been much better, but it's at least been quieter for them. So this

01:04deal has to make sense for them. And as you talk about with having not only a potential buyer, but

01:09a buyer that's got ties to a father that's in prison and been involved in communist activity,

01:14not great. But the NWSL is allegedly going to do their due diligence. The owners have to approve it.

01:19They've been in talks with this group in the past as well, because they've been trying to get

01:23involved in women's soccer. So they're vetting them and there's nothing official, but they do have to

01:28get this right because the club, but also the league has been very big on player first, creating good

01:32environments. Yeah. And the Sportico report said that this ownership group would still want to keep

01:37the team in Houston as well.