Woody Johnson, the co-owner of the New York Jets, has offered to buy John Textor’s shares in the English Premier League (EPL) team Crystal Palace F.C. for £190 million ($258 million), according to Ed Aarons and Will Unwin of The Guardian. Should the deal be completed, it could create a path forward for Crystal Palace to participate in next season’s UEFA Europa League, explained ESPN’s Mark Ogden.
Crystal Palace, who won the FA Cup last season, could be barred from the Europa League next term because John Textor, who is a minority shareholder in the club, also has a majority stake in the Ligue 1 team Lyon. According to UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) rules, two teams that are owned by the same person, people, or ownership group are barred from competing against one another in competition, “unless shares in one club are placed into a blind trust.”
Crystal Palace have argued that they should be allowed to participate in the UEFA competition even if Textor doesn’t sell his stake in the team because he “does not have decisive control” of the club. Rather, Textor’s stake is controlled by Eagle Football Holdings, a multi-club group that he is the founder and chairman of. According to BBC News’ Alex Howell, UEFA is expected to make a decision on Crystal Palace’s participation in the competition “towards the end of the month.”
BREAKING: John Textor has an offer to sell his Eagle Football Holdings stake in Crystal Palace from Woody Johnson, who owns the NFL franchise New York Jets 🚨 pic.twitter.com/eJryYyueaR
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) June 12, 2025
Textor failed to relinquish his shares of both clubs or put them in the aforementioned blind trust before the March 1st deadline. As a result, he is now willing to sell his 44.9% stake in Crystal Palace, according to sources who spoke to ESPN.
Woody Johnson’s offer already has the backing of Crystal Palace co-chair Steve Parish and is reportedly being considered by Textor, even though it’s well below his valuation of roughly £240m for the ownership stake. According to Aarons and Unwin, Textor is “prepared to accept up to £50m less than his valuation” after he failed to buy out Parish as well as fellow co-owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer in April.
Woody Johnson’s tenure as the owner of the New York Jets has had various ups and downs. Though his initial investment of $635 million to buy the Jets in 2000 has grown tremendously (the team had a valuation of $6.9 billion in August 2024), the team’s record under his ownership is 173-231, the seventh-worst mark in the NFL over the last 25 years.
Besides being the chairman of the New York Jets, Woody Johnson also previously served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom during the first administration of President Donald Trump. He also made a failed bid to acquire Chelsea F.C. in 2022.
