What football team does Lewis Hamilton support? Net worth and why he’s joined Martin Broughton’s Chelsea bid

Martin Broughton has confirmed that Sir Lewis Hamilton has joined the consortium hoping to buy Chelsea Football Club.

Chelsea recently became available for sale after the UK government imposed sanctions on Roman Abramovich shortly after Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

A number of candidates have come forward in the hope of buying the London club but, as yet, no decision has been made.

Broughton is one of the later additions to this list and his partners also include the World Athletics President Lord Sebatian Coe, owners of the Philadelphia 76ers basketball team, Josh Harris and David Blitzer and 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams.

Williams is currently an investor in Los Angeles’s Angel City FC, who play in the National Women’s Soccer League.

Hamilton, who is a seven time World Champion in Formula 1, recently joined Williams in their pledges and have put forward what is understood to be relatively small amounts of money, relative to a bid of more than £200 million.

A spokesperson for Hamilton said: “we can confirm Lewis has joined Sir Martin Broughton’s bid.”

Does Lewis Hamilton support Chelsea?

Hamilton is not a Chelsea fan but actually supports their London rivals, Arsenal. It is understood that the Mercedes driver hopes to have a positive effect on diversity and inclusion at Chelsea and within the club’s wider local community if his bid were to be accepted.

The seven-time champion has, however, been a strong supporter of Arsenal since a young age, and has been seen sporting his team’s jersey on several occasions.

Hamilton has also said that if Formula One had not worked out for him, he would have been a footballer or cricketer having played both at school.

The 37-year-old won his first F1 title in 2008 with McLaren and has gone on to hold the record jointly with Michael Schumacher for the most Championship titles.

He is also the only driver to have won over 100 races.

What is Lewis Hamilton’s net worth?

Hamilton’s career earnings have seen him earn £365 million over the 15 seasons he has been within Formula 1 while he has also earned up to £5 from add-ons.

It is though that the 37-year-old is the richest British sportsperson ever since he signed his new deal with Mercedes in 2015.

This contract saw the Champion earn more than £100 million over the course of three years.

It is estimated that Hamilton also earns around £8m-£10m extra in endorsements, such as through his fashion line TOMMYXLEWIS with Tommy Hilfiger, L’Oreal, Puma, Monster Energy, and Bell Helmets.

He currently earns the most endorsement money through Petronas’ partnership with Mercedes who pay just under £50 million for Hamilton to wear the brand’s name higher on his chest and on the back of his jacket.

Who else has made bids to buy Chelsea?

As of a few days ago, the race to buy the Blues is currently down to three candidates. A consortium led by the Ricketts family withdrew their takeover bid after citing “certain issues” and “unusual dynamics” around the sales process as the reason.

Two of these three candidates seem the most likely with the Broughton consortium one of the two.

The other is led by billionaire Todd Boehly, part-owner of the LA Dodgers.

The American has tried to bid for Chelsea before, offering £2.24 billion for it back in 2019 but it was turned down by Abramovich.

Boehly hoped to add the Premier League to his part-ownership status of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team and the Los Angeles Sparks basketball team.

Speaking to Bloomberg in 2019, Boehly said: “Football is the biggest sport in the world, the passion the fans have for the sport and the teams is unparalleled.

“So what you are trying to build with these teams, you are really trying to a) win and b) be part of the community.

“It’s the highest quality play, it’s the best players, and you also have a media market that’s just really developing.”

The swiss billionaire, Hansjorg Wyss, was one of the first figures to emerge as a contender for Chelsea and is now believed to be a key figure in the Boehly Consortium bid to buy.

Who is Sir Martin Broughton?

Broughton is the former chairman of British Airways and has been a life-long fan of Chelsea.

In 2010, Broughton spent a short time as the Liverpool chairman in order to organise the eventual sale to Tom Werner’s Fenway Sports Group.

Broughton is the only person to have carried out a change of ownership at a top football club under UK government supervision.

Part of his consortium include Crystal Palace minority stake holders Harris and Blitzer who will have to sell their shares in the Eagles if they are to proceed with the Chelsea sale.