Published on: December 29, 2025, 09:11h.
Updated on: December 29, 2025, 09:11h.
- Bord selected as the leading bidder for underperforming Sheffield Wednesday.
- Club currently in administration facing points penalties and risking relegation.
- Bord’s association with Bloom and Benham’s data-focused gambling and soccer model.
James Bord, a former champion at the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE), has emerged as the leading candidate to rescue the troubled English Championship club Sheffield Wednesday.
Administrators for the club revealed last Wednesday that they have granted the status of preferred bidder to an unnamed consortium, which is now believed to be led by Bord following the initial bidding phase.
Details regarding the members of Bord’s consortium and the sources of funding have not yet been publicly disclosed.
Sheffield Wednesday, affectionately nicknamed the Owls, finds itself struggling at the bottom of the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club has faced two points deductions since entering administration—a situation similar to Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S.—due to long-standing financial challenges under owner Dejphon Chansiri. Consequently, Sheffield Wednesday is now 30 points adrift from the nearest team, making relegation to the third tier appear inevitable.
About James Bord
Bord, based in Las Vegas, successfully led a consortium that took over the Scottish club Dunfermline in early 2025 and also holds minority ownership in the Spanish La Liga 2 club Cordoba CF.
A former banker at Citigroup, Bord left the finance sector in his mid-20s to pursue a career in poker and sports betting. He achieved notable success in 2010 by winning the WSOPE main event, securing $1,313,611 and becoming the first British champion of the tournament. At that time, he also managed a training and staking company for poker players, known as the Poker Farm.
Bord is the founder of Short Circuit Science, a San Francisco-based company focused on sports data analytics, medical technology, and climate change adaptation.
In the mid to late 2000s, he worked alongside Tony Bloom, whose gambling advisory firm, StarLizard, has gained recognition for its success in soccer betting. Bloom is the owner of English Premier League club Brighton and Hove Albion.
Bord eventually transitioned from StarLizard to collaborate with another sports betting organization, Smartodds, which is owned by Matthew Benham, another former Bloom associate. Benham later invested in the Matchbook betting exchange and took over his boyhood club, Brentford FC, in 2012.
Challenges Ahead
Bloom, Benham, and Bord represent a select and influential group leveraging rigorous, data-driven practices that have yielded success in professional gambling for application in soccer ownership and strategy.
For the struggling Owls, Bord’s analytics could be pivotal in reviving the club’s fortunes. However, he must first navigate several obstacles. He needs to pass the EFL’s Owners and Directors Test (ODT), which prohibits individuals with ownership stakes in betting firms if their involvement could lead to conflicts of interest in soccer.
EFL officials also express caution regarding owners with extensive experience in betting, concerned about potential misuse of club ownership to sway or exploit betting results.