Report: Philadelphia 76ers owner Joshua Harris close to Palace takeover

Report: Philadelphia 76ers owner Joshua Harris close to Palace takeover

Published Oct. 25, 2014 11:05 a.m. ET

Sports magnate Josh Harris is close to purchasing Premier League club Crystal Palace, Bloomberg reports.

Harris is expected to join John Henry (Liverpool), the Glazer family (Manchester United), Stan Kroenke (Arsenal) and Shad Khan (Fulham) as an owner of both an English football club and an American sports franchise.

The co-founder of Apollo Global Management — a private equity firm — already owns the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers and the New Jersey Devils of the NHL.

ADVERTISEMENT

According to Bloomberg, Palace's co-chairman Steve Parish would stay and run the club for Harris, with the former widely credited for helping rebuild the London-based team since 2010, leading it back to the Premier League at the end of the 2012-13 season.

Palace owns its stadium — Selhurst Park — and its training facility, after purchasing both in recent years.

Sal Galatioto, founder of Galatioto Sports Partners, who represented Comcast-Spectacor in its sale of the 76ers to Harris, told Bloomberg: "Josh obviously knows how to run pro sports franchises. It's a very interesting investment that should be a very good one for him over the long run.

"English Premier League soccer is arguably the best soccer in the world and it's very valuable media content. It's growing in other parts of the world, especially North America."

FOX Soccer and Goal.com have teamed up to bring you the best in world soccer coverage. Visit Goal.com, and follow them on Twitter and Facebook.

More from Goal.com:

Live transfer blog: Latest news from summer window

The summer's most expensive transfers

Goal.com -- Headlines

share