London , England ( CNN ) -- Liverpool Football Club , one of England 's most prestigious teams , announced Wednesday that its board has agreed to sell the team to New England Sports Ventures , the company that owns baseball 's Boston Red Sox . The sale is conditional on approval from the Premier League , to which Liverpool belongs ; resolution of a dispute about board membership ; and other matters , Liverpool said . The offer from NESV was one of two the club said Tuesday it had received to repay its long-term debt . It had called a board meeting Tuesday to review the bids and approve a sale . The amount of the sale was n't immediately disclosed , but the size of the debt is reported to be between 250 million and 280 million pounds ( $ 397 million and $ 445 million ) . What does the sale mean for Liverpool ? Liverpool , which has a huge fan base around the world , is currently owned by two Americans , Tom Hicks and George Gillett . They took out loans in the club 's name to buy it in February 2007 . But as Liverpool 's position in the English Premier League has slipped , the owners have become targets for angry fans . Liverpool failed to qualify for this season 's lucrative European Champions ' League and the team is currently 18th out of 20 in the English league after seven matches -- the worst start to a season for decades . Liverpool Chairman Martin Broughton said the board had met with NESV representatives over the past several weeks in Boston , London and Liverpool . He praised the company 's vision for the English team . What do you think of the sale ? Sound off with CNN iReport . `` NESV 's philosophy is all about winning and they have fully demonstrated that at Red Sox , '' Broughton said . He revealed problems the board has had with Hicks and Gillett , saying the pair tried `` everything '' to prevent the sale . Blog : Jumping from frying pan to fire ? `` By removing the burden of acquisition debt , this offer allows us to focus on investment in the team . I am only disappointed that the owners have tried everything to prevent the deal from happening and that we need to go through legal proceedings in order to complete the sale , '' Broughton said . History of Liverpool in images . Before Tuesday 's meeting , the two owners sought to remove two board members and replace them with Mack Hicks -- reported by the Liverpool Echo to be Tom Hicks ' son -- and Lori Kay McCutcheon , whom the newspaper said is vice president and financial controller of Hicks Holdings . The second bidder was from Asia but is not linked to Kenny Huang , who led a Chinese consortium interested in investing in Liverpool this summer , the Echo reported . CNN 's Nicky Robertson in Atlanta , Georgia , contributed to this report .
The sale is conditional on approval by the Premier League . A dispute about board membership must also be resolved first . The amount of the sale was n't immediately disclosed .