Pawtucket Soccer Stadium President’s UK Team Lost $17 Million, According to Club Audit

Pawtucket Soccer Stadium President’s UK Team Lost $17 Million, According to Club Audit

Brett Johnson — the man behind the proposed minor league soccer team and stadium in Pawtucket — is also the Director of the Ipswich Town soccer club in the United Kingdom, and that team is losing millions.

He often promotes the "wins" that he and his team have had since taking over the ownership of the Ipswich club.

Johnson takes to social media to tout the ownership group's achievements, and his public relations team has said that the Ipswich team is a success on and off the pitch.

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

But, recently released audited financials for the Ipswich club shows that the team lost $14.3£ million [about $17 million U.S.] in the past year.

The loss under Johnson and his team’s management grew from 7.7£ million in losses to 14.3£ million in losses in one year — an 85% increase.

The investment group Gamechanger 20 owns around 90% of the Ipswich club. Of that, Johnson and two other individuals (Mark Detmer and Berke Bakay) own a combined 5% of the team between the three of them. Johnson, according to records, owns less than 1% of the team.

He refuses to answer questions about his ownership percentage. The bulk of the funding (and the vast majority of the ownership) is tied to an Arizona pension fund. 

The disclosure of the mounting losses is another issue for Johnson.

In Rhode Island, the City of Pawtucket refused to issue $27 million in bonds, leaving a new funding gap for the project first proposed — one of many challenges the Pawtucket project is facing.

 

 

"Performed Incredibly Well" 

Mike Raia, a spokesperson for Johnson and the proposed Pawtucket project called Tidewater Landing, previously told GoLocal that since Johnson and his management team took over Ipswich, the team has been a success financially and on the pitch.

“Brett led the acquisition of Ipswich Town with a group of partners and is a key part of the leadership team of a club that has performed incredibly well both on and off the pitch since the acquisition. Under the new ownership’s leadership, the club has dramatically increased every commercial metric, re-engaging the fans of the historic club,” said Raia.

Presently, Ipswich plays two leagues below the Premier League — the top level of UK soccer, featuring such storied clubs as Manchester United, Arsenal, and Newcastle. It is presently in second in its league and the crowds have returned post-COVID.

Raia did not respond to questions about the discrepancy between the financial performance that he claimed and the audited financials. He did state that the team was having a strong season and that "The ownership's focus on the Club has generated other incalculable positive economic, philanthropic and social impacts across the broader Ipswich region." 

Presently, the proposed Pawtucket stadium is over budget by tens of millions of dollars, the overall project has been scaled down, and Johnson has not raised the amount of capital he has promised.

He is millions short.

 

 

Happy Anniversary ⁦@IpswichTown⁩. Onward and upward! pic.twitter.com/9ivSKXzVMe

— Brett M. Johnson (@bmjcrew28) April 7, 2022