Billionaire US property tycoons save struggling A-League club Western United
Billionaire US property tycoons Maciek and Mikhail Kaminski have saved struggling A-League club Western United with a $100m investment believed to be the richest deal in Australian sporting history.
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Billionaire US property tycoons Maciek and Mikhail Kaminski have saved struggling A-League club Western United with a $100m investment believed to be the richest deal in Australian sporting history.
The deal – which has been in the works for 12 months – between KAM Melbourne, a subsidiary of KAM Sports, and Western United Football Club and its parent company Western Melbourne Group (WMG), was made official on Friday morning.
KAM Sports is led by the Kaminskis, father-son Polish- American US property tycoons worth more than $1bn who were in negotiations to buy English Premier League club Everton back in 2021, and a Belgian club in 2023.
Those deals fell through so this will be the first football club they’ve successfully bought, but it’s the land development at Tarneit in western Melbourne that has drawn them to Western United.
“Our background is in real estate and real estate development so for us this was really a real estate play,” Mikhail told Code Sports.
United’s financial pressures have been well reported. Just last week Code Sports revealed the club had to delay paying its players by a week. FIFA this week lapped a transfer ban on the club due to money issues.
But less than 48 hours after FIFA acted, there is renewed hope for Western United with the ownership development and hopes to get the transfer ban lifted.
In March it was revealed the Australian Taxation Office was attempting to wind up WMG Football Club and WMG Holdings Co – the two companies that underpin Western United.
In the year to June 2023 the football club reportedly lost $12.4m and is understood to owe a total of $44m.
The ATO issues caused delays in the ownership negotiations but there is renewed confidence at the club.
This deal isn’t just for the successful (on the field) football club – it also comes with an 800-home property development and 15,000 seat stadium.
Mikhail Kaminski said it was the attached property development and infrastructure that snagged their attention.
Western United entered the A-League in 2019 with the promise of building a 15,000-seat stadium at Tarneit and transforming the remainder of the 68 hectares gifted to it by Wyndham City Council into a housing development.
So far a much smaller 800-seat grandstand and 2000-seat temporary stand have been built but no work has started on the property development.
Mikhail said the $100m investment, their first in Australia, would be spread across the property development, stadium and football club.
“Making sure the stadium is built and working with Wyndham City Council is our number one priority,” he said.
“We’ve looked at a couple of different (football clubs) but nothing has come over the line. We’re really excited about this opportunity and understanding how and what else we can invest in the A-Leagues.”
Mikhail has done his research on the league and Western United and said it was surprising how well the club had performed considering the off-field drama and financial issues.
The women’s team joined the league three seasons ago – it made the grand final in its inaugural year and the finals these past two seasons.
The men’s team has claimed one title already and could pinch a second this season.
“There is a bunch of good young talent in the A-Leagues, it gives us a very large geographic diversity and we think there’s a lot of great players we can help promote into Europe and the rest of the world,” Mikhail said.
“The continued development of local talent, both male and female, and creating grassroots to elite pathways under the Western United brand is top-of-mind for my family.”
But in order for Western United to remain successful Mikhail said the club had to get its financial situation sorted.
“We need to deliver on the development and make sure the balance sheet and everything is situated appropriately so that they don’t have to worry about that in the background while they’re performing well on the field,” he said.
“This is a little bit more of an interesting project. When you look at some in Europe, all the fan base wants to hear is about what you’re going to do for the club. In this place we really need to show our expertise and bring good development and good infrastructure experience to help the whole community, which we’re pretty excited about.
“The prospect of being the first sports team to fully own their stadium is exciting and we look forward to accelerating the development of this and seeing it filled with local community and supporters.”
While he doesn’t plan to relocate to Melbourne, Mikhail said he would be very hands-on.
“You will see me in Australia to cheer on the squad and make sure the development goes appropriately,” he said.
“My whole family will probably be down at some point, we are a family business and being on the ground and present to understand what’s going on is very important to us.”
WMG chairman Jason Sourasis welcomed the investment.
“This investment marks a significant milestone for Australian football and shows belief in our vision for the club, project and the Wyndham community,” he said.
The transaction is subject to successful completion of the necessary approval processes by A-Leagues owners the Australian Professional Leagues and regulatory processes by Football Australia.
Originally published as Billionaire US property tycoons save struggling A-League club Western United
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