Mike Ashley has sought buyers for his Newcastle United Football Club (NUFC), as the parent company of the team and Sports Direct continues to lose money.
Mash Holdings, the company behind Sports Direct and NUFC, reported a pre-tax profit drop of 47 per cent in April, thanks to continually poor sales at the retailer and dwindling ticket sales for NUFC.
The billionaire has subsequently put his team up for sale after stating he could no longer compete for expensive players.
Ashley reportedly hopes to find a buyer by Christmas, marking the second time he has put the team up for sale.
He first attempted to sell it off after floating Sports Direct on the London Stock Exchange in 2007.
“I must make it crystal clear that I am not wealthy enough in football now to compete with the likes of Man City,” Ashley said.
“It’s basically a wealthy individual taking on the equivalent of a country.”
In July, Sports Direct posted a 59 per cent slump in pre-tax profits.
In a recent study conducted for Retail Gazette, it was revealed that nearly 80 per cent of people think Sports Direct will never achieve Ashley’s goal of becoming the “Selfridges of sport”.
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