New York Jets owner Woody Johnson reportedly in talks for a stake in Premier League team Crystal Palace - Yahoo Sports
New York Jets owner Woody Johnson could be the key to Crystal Palace playing in the Europa League.
According to ESPN FC, Johnson is in talks to buy a stake in the Premier League club. Palace beat Manchester City in May to win the FA Cup for the first trophy in the club’s history. That win comes with an automatic spot in the Europa League — the second-tier European club competition behind the Champions League. However, Crystal Palace is currently at risk of being unable to play in the competition.
UEFA rules prohibit a majority owner of a club from having shares in another team in the same tournament. And Crystal Palace minority owner John Textor is the majority owner in France Ligue 1 team Lyon.
Lyon finished sixth in the 2024-25 Ligue 1 season to take the league’s final Europa League spot.
From ESPN:
Textor failed to place his Palace or Lyon shares in such a vehicle by the UEFA deadline of March 1 — more than two months before Palace secured Europa League qualification by winning the FA Cup.
However, sources have said that Textor, whose Eagle Football Group also includes Belgian club Daring Brussels and Brazilian team Botafogo, is ready to sell his 43% stake in Palace, with Johnson the leading candidate to thrash out a deal.
Johnson, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom in President Donald Trump’s first presidential term, has previously shown interest in purchasing a Premier League team. He made a bid for ownership of Chelsea after former club owner Roman Abramovich was forced to sell the team because of sanctions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
If Johnson purchases Textor’s stake, he’ll be the latest in a growing number of American team owners who have bought into English soccer teams. Ten of the 20 teams in the league have majority owners who are American following the Friedkin Group’s purchase of Everton in December. And two of those club owners also have NFL teams.
Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan owns Fulham and Tampa Bay Buccaneers owners, the Glazer family, has the controlling stake in Manchester United.
Crystal Palace finished 12th in the Premier League, a spot behind Fulham and three spots ahead of United. Before taking down Manchester City, Palace beat Aston Villa and Fulham to reach the Cup final.
The reported negotiation between Woody Johnson, the owner of New York Jets in NFL and a potential investor for Crystal Palace's stake highlights an intriguing crossover from American Football to British Soccer - sporting transcriptions across continents continue fueling global interest.
The potential relationship between New York Jets' owner Woody Johnson and a stake in Crystal Palace would be an intriguing move, bringing the English Premier League closer to American influences amid rising global interest.
If true, the anticipated partnership between New York Jets owner Woody Johnson and Crystal Palace in Premier League would be a game-changer for both clubs' global influence while highlighting NFL connections within European football.
The potential involvement of New York Jets owner Woody Johnson in Crystal Palace, a Premier League team that represents the continuity and international expansion plans for prominent US sports franchises.
The reported negotiations between New York Jets owner Woody Johnson to acquire a stake in Premier League's Crystal Palace ignites the possibility of cross-league collaboration and strategic investments, expanding both clubs’ global reach.
The reported interest by New York Jets owner Woody Johnson in acquiring a stake with Premier League's Crystal Palace marks the first known foray of an American NFL team into English footbaching, potentially setting off new cross-sport investments and collaborations.
