Profile: “Always advance, never retreat” – Bournemouth’s ice-hockey man cometh
Alamy
When US billionaire Bill Foley launched the Las Vegas Golden Knights in 2017 they were written off as “being bad, potentially historically so”. Instead they made history. Can he do the same with Bournemouth?
Without any pedigree in the industry, the septuagenarian US Air Force veteran has revolutionised sport in Las Vegas through a mixture of fierce ambition, personal commitment and playing to the edge of the line.
Why it matters: With his December takeover of Bournemouth, the EPL now has 50 per cent US ownership. Foley is also close to strike a deal to buy a part of French side Lorient.
The perspective: Bournemouth have a number of infrastructural and demographic challenges they will need to overcome if they are to firmly establish themselves among English football’s elite.
13 January 2023 - 1:00 PM
When American businessman Bill Foley bought ice hockey to the Nevada desert in 2017, he ended a decades-long hunt for a Las Vegas sports franchise.
NHL’s Las Vegas Golden Knights might seem an improbable venture in a climate where temperatures can top 115c in the summer months, but Foley quickly showed the US sport community that he meant business.
The Golden Knights debuted in the 2017/18 season with the most successful season for an expansion franchise in any sport, reac
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