Joshua Harris may be slowly building a portfolio of sports franchises the likes of which we’ve never seen.

From The Mirror:

Billionaire Americans Josh Harris and David Blitzer are looking at a ­major takeover of crisis club Aston Villa, write Alan Nixon and Neil Moxley in the Sunday People.

The pair have been scouring England for a football team to buy that will add to their ­impressive portfolio.

Mega-rich Harris and Blitzer recently bought ice hockey and ­basketball franchises, and have now turned their attention to the Premier League.

The duo know Randy Lerner – who put Villa on sale last month – and have been discussing figures for the past few weeks, with the price ­falling to around £150 million. Harris and Blitzer are investment experts and have specialised in ‘distressed’ companies.

There does not seem to be much of a profit margin in the Birmingham club, but they have been in touch with American friends in the game to ask their opinions and seem keen.

The pair, who are central figures in the Global Management ­investment ­company, have been using leading figures at top clubs for ­advice about a purchase.

God I love British writing.

Harris and his companies have a history of buying up distressed properties and turning them around. He’s already probably more than doubled his investment in the Sixers (thanks to national TV revenue) and eventually the same will be able to be said for his investment in Devils. Aston Villa is a small-time English Premier League team, but, they still play in the Premier League (so long as they don’t get relegated) and with the wind at soccer’s back, the sport’s growing popularity in the US, and the potential for a MASSIVE broadcast rights deal when the league’s current three-year, $250 million deal with NBC is up in two years, there’s little doubt that owning a team is a money-making proposition. What’s more interesting, however, is that Harris has aggressively entered the sports market. He bought the Sixers in 2011, the Devils in 2013, and may buy Aston Villa in 2014. We’ve already seen what he can do with a multi-sport advertising partnership in just the US, now imagine the possibilities if his sports interests go international. And better yet, here’s a line I’d consider dropping if I were Harris, which I’m not, because I don’t floss with the finely woven hair of a beaver: Hey LeBron, so you want to be the first billionaire athlete? How about you come work for a billionaire who is reinventing franchise ownership as we know it? Maybe we can make you the central figure in the largest sports sponsorship deal of all-time. How’s that sound.

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I’m beginning to like Harris. I question his motives and if he’s in it for the long haul, but he operates differently, pragmatically, and it’s a breath of fresh air compared to the way the Phillies and Flyers run their organizations.

UPDATE: Perhaps calling Aston Villa small-time was unfair and uninformed, per pissed off commenters. More like: struggling as of late and on edge of relegation.