It has not been a good week for Fenway Sports Group’s owner John Henry.
Multiple sports franchises, including defending Premier League champions Liverpool FC, and the Boston Red Sox, are under Henry’s leadership.
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Both are having disappointing seasons. Despite investing £446 million ($604 million) in the summer transfer window, Liverpool are out of all cup competitions after a 4-0 humbling by Champions League holders PSG.
With six games remaining they are fifth – the final automatic qualification spot to return to the competition next year, with a host of teams breathing down their neck.
But, the Red Sox season has arguably been worse thus far.
Boston have started the season 6-11, and sit rock bottom of the American League East, despite having the sixth-highest payroll in the league.
The Red Sox were once an American League juggernaut, competing with the New York Yankees in the division and making deep playoff runs.
But, without a World Series win since 2018, it appears fans’ patience with their owner is running out.
Red Sox fans are ‘right’ to protest
Red Sox fans were captured chanting ‘sell the team’ during a recent homestand, and they have eSPORTY’s own Brian T. Smith’s support in this.
“I’m going to side with the Red Sox fans on this occasion,” Smith said.
“It’s been a poor era in general that has led to fans going to Fenway and shouting, ‘sell the team’ to John Henry.
“You can’t let fans run the team, but when all the fans are screaming the same thing, they’re usually right.
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“They’re better off having a complete organizational reset, but that means John Henry would have to acknowledge that he’s gotten all of this wrong in the last five years.
The fans’ chanting caught the attention of the Milwaukee Brewers’ broadcast, which showed a dead-pan Henry.
eSPORTY’s Tom Scholes and Smith would proceed to fire intense criticism at the Red Sox owners’ reaction.
“Then someone tells [Henry] and he goes, ‘oh, sell the team’ and then just cracks on with his day to day life,” Scholes added.
“I think the hubris of that is actually quite funny in a not a dark way because it isn’t that deep.”
“But, if you ever wanted a visual image of how little your ownership cares about your team,” Smith continued.
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“How little people in power with a lot of money care about the general public, you know, whether it’s politically or the sports world, that was a perfect example.”
The reality for Red Sox fans however, inheriting one of the most storied franchises, with an estimated value of $4.8bn, will be no-easy feat.
Red Sox fans are truly frustrated about the on-field product, which was assembled by Criag Breslow, who is the chief baseball officer for the franchise.
Henry made the hire, yes, but his biggest concern will be filling the seats, something which the Red Sox have been doing so far, despite their poor start to the 2026 season.
Liverpool fans pile pressure on Henry with their own protest
6,000 miles away at Anfield on Saturday, Liverpool were holding their own protest for the same owner.
It was announced last month that the defending champions would increase general admission ticket prices for the next three seasons, a move that angered fans.
Supporters’ group Spirit of Shankly confirmed their plans to stage protests in and outside Anfield on Saturday.
Posters of Henry were passed around, reading: ‘Listen to us John. No multi-year price rises.’
It’s not the first time the club’s supporters have attempted to fight back against decisions made by Henry’s ownership group.
Their decision to join the Super League in 2020 was fiercely opposed with mass protests outside the stadium.
Most famously, a previous attempt to raise ticket prices prompted a mass walkout by several thousand fans in 2016.
Henry will not be the most popular franchise owner, but any sale of Liverpool or the Red Sox seems unlikely to happen at this point.
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