Eagle Football Holdings Bidco Limited, a London-based group founded by digital entrepreneur and soccer enthusiast John Textor with stakes in English Premier League club Crystal Palace, Brazilian Serie A club Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas and Belgian First Division B club RWD Molenbeek, announced today that it has acquired a significant majority stake in the French Olympique Lyonnais Groupe SA (OL Groupe) on Dec. 19, 2022. OL Groupe, centered around Olympique Lyonnais, the football club founded in 1950 and managed by Jean-Michel Aulas as chairman and CEO since 1987, is a leading company in the entertainment and media sector in France. Aulas will continue to lead OL’s diverse sports and entertainment organization and will become a director of Eagle Football.
Eagle Football was formed to create a unique ownership model for soccer that focuses on historic top-flight clubs in key markets and fosters collaboration between clubs and communities to enhance fan enjoyment and improve competitiveness. The company believes its approach is unique within the multi-club landscape. It has acquired stakes in community-focused, academy- and development-focused clubs and is located in markets that offer particular advantages in talent identification and player migration. Eagle Football fans already enjoy the cross-border family of clubs and communities, sharing stories on social media, wearing the jerseys of their “brother clubs,” and exchanging ideas on how to work with talent.
