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US businessman John Textor has agreed to sell his roughly 45 per cent stake in Crystal Palace to Woody Johnson, in a deal that could clear the way for the Premier League club to participate in European competition next season.
The deal, confirmed by the club in a statement on Monday, is said to value Crystal Palace at £550mn, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Johnson, the billionaire owner of the New York Jets NFL franchise and a controversial former US ambassador to the UK, is set to join an ownership group at Crystal Palace that includes Apollo co-founder Josh Harris, Blackstone executive David Blitzer and club chair Steve Parish.
“Whilst the completion is pending approval from the Premier League and Women’s Super League, we do not envisage any issues and look forward to welcoming Woody as a partner and director of the club,” Crystal Palace said on Monday.
The sale comes as Crystal Palace’s existing owners seek to persuade Uefa, European football’s governing body, to allow the club to compete in next season’s Europa League. Tottenham Hotspur earned about £26mn from winning the competition last season.
Despite earning a spot by winning the FA Cup last month, the first major trophy in its history, Textor’s ownership of French club Olympique Lyonnais, which also qualified for the Europa League, threatens to deny Palace their place in the competition.
Uefa and Fifa, the global governing body, have rules barring two clubs with the same owner from competing against each other in the same competition. Crystal Palace has sought to demonstrate to Uefa that Textor does not have a decisive influence at the club, despite being its biggest shareholder.
The uncertainty about Crystal Palace’s place in the Europa League has highlighted the risks of multi-club ownership. According to Uefa, 17 per cent of top-tier European football clubs had a cross-shareholding with another team at the end of 2024.
Legal scrutiny of the model has been growing after Fifa opted to eject Club León from the Club World Cup. Another team in the competition, CF Pachuca, has the same owner.
Textor tapped merchant bank Raine Group to find a buyer for his stake in Crystal Palace more than a year ago. The sale process has been accelerated in recent weeks in an effort to untangle the south London club from Textor’s multi-club network, which also includes Brazilian side Botafogo and Belgian club Daring Brussels, formerly known as RWD Molenbeek.
Textor has also been under pressure in France to raise funds for Lyon after French football regulators voiced concerns about the club’s debt levels. Part of the plan put forward to reduce the financial strain was to divert proceeds from the sale of his stake in Crystal Palace. Textor is also planning to float his football business Eagle Football on the US stock market.
Premier League approval for Johnson’s purchase is likely to take several weeks. Uefa is set to deliver its verdict on whether Crystal Palace can play in the Europa League in the coming days.
If it is approved, Johnson, who bought the New York Jets in 2000 for $635mn, will join the growing ranks of US investors in Premier League clubs with existing interests in sport.
While Forbes estimates the New York Jets franchise is now worth $6.9bn, Johnson’s tenure has attracted fierce criticism from fans and been marked by poor performances on the field. Last year, he was the only team owner to receive an “F” grade in an annual survey conducted by the NFL Players Association. Johnson described the findings as “totally bogus”.
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