AEG Not Spurred By Tottenham

The team is thrilling fans with its exciting brand of attacking football, but Tottenham Hotspur soccer club apparently isn’t grabbing the attention of Anschutz Entertainment Group.

The U.S. entertainment company, which owns Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles Galaxy, has rubbished stories that it’s interested in buying London’s top club.

While the team heads toward the best Premiership position it’s achieved in the 20 or so years since the league was founded, AEG president Tim Leiweke quashed talk of his company adding Tottenham to its sports portfolio.

The company also has the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings and an interest in the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team.

“The stories that AEG is interested in or has been negotiating for the purchase of Tottenham are untrue,” Leiweke said. “We currently enjoy a very good business and personal relationship with Tottenham and have been involved with a number of transactions over the years. However, at no time have we had a desire to purchase that club.”

The speculation linking AEG to Spurs, mostly owned by ENIC and controlled by Bahamas-based businessman Joe Lewis, rose out of them making a joint bid to move into London’s Olympic Stadium after the 2012 Games.

After that bid failed, Tottenham initiated a search for investors to fund the estimated £450 million it needs to build a new stadium adjacent to its current home at White Hart Lane.

The north London club says that trading on the Alternative Investment Market “severely restricts” its potential for raising the money for the new ground and de-listed from the market.

For the year ending June 30, Spurs made a profit of £400,000 ($645,000) compared with the £6.5 million-pound ($9.7 million) hit it took in the previous financial year.

Its European Champions League campaign contributed £37.1 million ($57.8 million) of its record-breaking revenues of £163.5 million ($255 million), although this year the side qualified only for the less-rewarding Europa League.

The team’s success has led most people to want Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp to run the English national team, following the recent resignation of Fabio Capello.