For the most part, their 17 years in the second tier Ipswich Town felt like they were running to stand still, as the financial disparity with the parachute clubs continued to widen. In fact, things got worse before they got better, as the Tractor Boys were relegated in 2019 to League One, where they languished for four seasons before a dramatic change in their fortunes.
The transformation was effected under the new owners, who purchased the club in April 2021 for a reported £40m. As a result, Ipswich Town became majority owned by the appropriately named Gamechanger 20 Limited, though the ultimate owner is a US investment firm, ORG.
The new ownership group has certainly put its money where its mouth is to date, investing a lot into the squad and the club’s infrastructure. However, this looks like its part of a well thought-out plan, as shown by some astute recruitment. McKenna is the obvious jewel in the crown, but they also brought in former Bristol City chief executive, Mark Ashton, to lead operations off the pitch.
Their view was that Ipswich represented an excellent investment opportunity, as ORG chief executive Ed Schwartz explained, “Our view is that we’ve bought, at a lower value, an asset that has potential and history. Ipswich really was the perfect scenario for us.”
The club received additional funding in March this year, as Bright Path Sports Partners, a US private equity firm which specialises in professional sports franchises, invested £105m for a 40% minority stake. This was described as “an exciting step which will further secure the club’s future”.
Following this transaction, ORG’s stake has reduced to around 50%, while Bright Path now has 40% with the remaining 10% allocated to smaller investors, split between 5% for three businessmen (Brett Johnson, Berke Bakay and Mark Detmer) and 5% for Marcus Evans.
They paid the price of success in 2022/23, as the pre-tax loss widened from £12.6m to £18.2m, despite revenue rising by a very impressive 51% (£7.4m) from £14.4m to £21.8m. All three revenue streams were higher, though the largest increase was in commercial, which shot up £4.2m (74%) from £5.7m to £9.9m. There was also good growth in match day, up £2.3m (40%) from £5.7m to £8.0m, and broadcasting, up £0.8m (27%) from £3.1m to £3.9m.
