The Friedkin Group US investment consortium, owner of three European soccer clubs, has created a formal multi-club ownership vehicle – Pursuit Sports – to run these properties.
Dave Beeston, who joins from being a managing director at Clearlake Capital Partners (part-owners of English heavyweights Chelsea), has been unveiled as the chief executive at Pursuit Sports, which is "dedicated to overseeing and supporting The Friedkin Group's professional sports properties."
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Currently, The Friedkin Group (based in Houston, Texas) owns AS Roma of Italy's top-tier Serie A, English Premier League stalwarts Everton, and lower-league French side AS Cannes.
These clubs now form the Pursuit Sports portfolio, with any other teams bought by The Friedkin Group in the future set to join them. Beeston will report to Dan Friedkin, chair and chief executive at The Friedkin Group (and also chair of Pursuit Sports).
Roma were the first club to come under Friedkin's control, in mid-2020, with Cannes following in June 2023, and the Everton deal being completed last December.
Dan Friedkin has now commented: "The launch of Pursuit Sports marks an exciting new chapter in The Friedkin Group’s vision to elevate and empower world-class sports organizations. Through this platform, we can do more than support our teams at a high level – we are investing in their long-term success by bringing together the full strength of our global expertise, resources, and pursuit of excellence.
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By GlobalData"Dave Beeston is a proven, trusted leader who is steeped in wisdom and experience around how to build high-performance sports enterprises."
Over the last few years, more multi-club ownership groups within top-tier soccer have emerged, bringing both advantages and disadvantages for the clubs involved. Over the last year or so, there have been multiple protests by Roma fans about The Friedkin Group's ownership, despite relative on-pitch success.
Beeston added: "With a focus on people and data-driven decision making, we will use our scale, insights, and expertise to unlock and empower the leadership at each of our clubs, which will allow them to realize their full potential and pursue championship success."
Beeston had only been a Clearlake Capital director since August last year, heading up that private equity giant. Before that short stint, he had spent 11 years at Fenway Sports Group (FSG), which controls several iconic sports franchises, including Premier League side Liverpool, and Major League Baseball heavyweights the Boston Red Sox.
During his lengthy tenure at FSG, Beeston served in various key roles, including as co-head of Fenway Sports Management, executive vice president and chief strategy officer at the Red Sox, and alternate governor of the Pittsburgh Penguins (from ice hockey's NHL).
He was also involved in the investment deal, concluded early last year, between Strategic Sports Group – a US consortium led by FSG – and US golf's top-tier PGA Tour.
Regarding the three current member clubs of The Friedkin Group, meanwhile, Roma finished fifth in Serie A last season – thus qualifying for the UEFA Europa League pan-continental competition – Everton finished 13th in the Premier League, while Cannes came second in their regional grouping in the overall French fourth-tier.
