NBA star Jimmy Butler is part of a consortium expected to make a £200m offer for a 45% acquisition of Premier League club Crystal Palace.
According to a report from The Athletic on June 11, the Golden State Warriors forward joins former Morgan Stanley sports executive Bejan Esmaili and ex-Roc Nation lawyer Wajid Mir to acquire John Textor’s stake in the club.
Esmaili and Mir entered an exclusivity window in January 2025 over a potential sale which originally featured Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd, but the 30-day period lapsed and Kidd instead joined the ownership group of Everton FC as an investor.
Butler replaced Kidd as part of the consortium who has been a fan of football since watching Neymar Jr. at the 2016 Olympic Games and later befriended the Brazilian international.
The initial negotiations in January involved the backing of Saudi Arabian businessmen Haider and Mansoor Syed but are now not involved in the latest bid. The consortium consisting of Esmaili, Mir and Butler have already held talks with Textor over a potential sale.
The consortium has the backing of an American group that, according to The Athletic, have “experience investing in soccer clubs”.
A recent report from the Daily Mail revealed Textor is willing to sell his stake in Crystal Palace for £175m, with the reported £200m from the latest bidder suggesting a deal could be finalised.
Textor has been keen to sell his share for several months and has been approached by other bidders. Owner of the NFL’s New York Jets, Woody Johnson, expressed interest last January but failed to meet Textor’s valuation. Sports investment group Sportsbank was also granted exclusivity talks the same month but this window also lapsed.
A stake in question
Textor’s ownership of Crystal Palace has been in the spotlight recently as it could potentially be the reason why the Premier League club miss out on Europe League football next season.
Due to the American businessman also holding a 40% stake in French football club Olympique Lyonnais, who also qualified for the Europa League next season, his ownership of both clubs breaks UEFA multi-club ownership rules.
Article 5 of UEFA regulations state to ensure the “integrity” of its competitions, owners of two clubs competing in the same competition must not be involved in “any capacity whatsoever in the management” of the club, as well as have no “power whatsoever”.
The deadline to ensure that UEFA multi-club rules are met was 1 March 2025. However, as Crystal Palace won the first trophy in club history by winning the FA Cup in May thus qualifying for the Europa League, it is fair to say that the club did not foresee winning the competition in January/February.
Crystal Palace minority owner and Chairman Steve Parish has been involved in discussions with UEFA in Switzerland to resolve the matter. Textor is keen to relieve his status as owner to remove all doubt over Crystal Palace’s status in the Europa League next season.
