LIVERPOOL, England — Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has made his first major investment in professional sports as part of a consortium that has bought a significant minority stake in English Premier League club Liverpool, in a deal that values the club at more than $7 billion.

Early reports had said the group, led by British-Indian businessman Amit Bhatia, was close to buying about a third of the club in a deal worth around 1.35 billion pounds. The final agreement turned out to be larger. The consortium bought roughly 38% of Liverpool from Fenway Sports Group, the American company that has owned the club since 2010, according to reports by The Athletic and Sky Sports.

FSG keeps majority ownership and operational control of the club. The new investors also have an option to become majority shareholders within the next 12 months, according to CNBC.

The consortium, called 1892 Holdings after the year Liverpool was founded, is led and managed by Bhatia. It includes investments from Bhatia and the Mittal Family Trusts; K5 Sports, a fund in which Bezos is the lead investor; and EE Capital, the family office of Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin and his wife, Elaine.

Bhatia is the son-in-law of Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal and a former co-owner of English club Queens Park Rangers.

CNBC reported that Bezos........

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