Rangers vice chairman Paraag Marathe believes the Ibrox club will benefit from new ties to the San Francisco 49ers and Leeds United.
Marathe is president of the NFL team’s investment arm – 49ers Enterprises – who are part of the US consortium that has taken over at Ibrox.
He is also chairman at Leeds United, who are owned by the 49ers, and helped guide the club back to the Premier League.
Andrew Cavenagh (L) is leading the US consortium who have taken over at Rangers
Following that success at Elland Road, and also in the USA, Marathe is confident Rangers can achieve more of the same under the new regime.
He said: “The short, medium and long-term goal is to win. It’s win the league, it’s win cups, it’s all of the above. Do we think we have what we need to win? Absolutely. We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t.
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“We definitely have big belief in Kev [Kevin Thelwell] and Russell [Martin] to lead the football side. This is about building the right foundation and about doing it intelligently and thoughtfully, not just throwing money at it.
“Throwing money might solve something short term, but this is about trying to build something that will last, and outlast our tenures with the club and keep Rangers on a great trajectory it deserves to be on.”
‘Feeder club talk a disservice to Rangers and Leeds’
Paraag Marathe took over as Leeds Utd chairman following the 49ers takeover at Elland Road
When visiting the UK from San Francisco, Marathe is expected to split his time between Leeds and Glasgow. However, he was quick to dismiss any talk that the Ibrox side will become a feeder club to Leeds.
He added: “It would be a disservice to Leeds and Rangers to consider one a feeder club to the other. Consider them both closed-loop universes that deserve proper attention and nurture and care – we will designate and assign resources appropriately.
“Look, there are opportunities to learn from each other, whether it’s commercially or competitively on the pitch.
“I mean, it could just be simple things. If Ibrox has a plumbing issue and we go through certain plumbers who are terrible and certain ones who are good, if Elland Road had a plumbing issue, we’re certain to want to call and figure out who the best plumber is! You can apply that analogy to an agent, so there’s lots that you can share.
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“So me being able to sit across both means I can help navigate those two. In my mind it’s a real positive to have two clubs like that.
“As far as my time, I don’t see it as hours in a day, days in a week or weeks in a year. I really don’t. To me, I hate losing and I want to win. Whatever I need to do to keep me on the winning side of the ledger at any club is all I care about. I don’t even know where I was two days ago. Honestly, right now I am here and thinking about this. That is all that drives me.”
During the takeover talks, which began last October, some believed Marathe’s involvement at Leeds could breach conflict of interest rules.
Rangers and Leeds will both hope to be playing European football, but Marathe said: “We have checked the box with those that we need to, to make sure that if and when there is ever even a situation when there is a perception of a conflict, we would solve that. That has already been solved, so we’re good there.”
‘Rangers will gain from 49ers global gravitas’
San Francisco 49ers have won five Super Bowl titles
The 49ers Enterprises were valued at £5.1bn ($6.8bn) by Forbes last August, with the franchise winning five Super Bowl titles and Marathe explained why being associated with the NFL giants will benefit Rangers.
He said: “I think it is pretty objectively true that the San Francisco 49ers are one of the biggest sports brands in the world, and certainly one of the most recognisable. Rangers is a gem of European football.
“What the 49ers can bring is a certain global gravitas and awareness to Rangers. Now, take the States or other places where the 49ers are top of mind, now all of a sudden Rangers are in that same sentence. Why does that matter? It matters when we are out with commercial partners who care about how many times they are going to be mentioned, how many times their name will come up. That has monetary value. It has helped us with Leeds.
“In terms of one not being subordinate to the other, selfishly speaking, it actually helps the 49ers too. Bringing it more into the conversation globally and bringing that awareness, I know from my experience at Leeds and I am already seeing some of the early returns.
“It matters to players that we are out recruiting. Oh wait, a second, the 49ers are involved in this. This must mean that there is a certain extra gravitas that comes to it that helps us in the recruitment of players as well.”
