It’s not only Hollywood movie stars: This former NFL player has invested in an English soccer club

The list is getting longer, from the Glazers taking over at Manchester United in 2005 followed by the Fenway Sports Group adding Liverpool FC to their sports team portfolio and just two years ago when Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly took the reins at Chelsea, ten of the 20 teams in the English Premier League are now controlled by US interests.

The Premier League is the most popular domestic league in the world and can be highly attractive investment opportunity.

American investors see potential for growth in areas such as commercial revenue, sponsorships, and media rights added to the prestige that owning a team in the birthplace of the game also adds.

The Wrexham example

However, the highest profile US investors can be found outside the Premier League with Hollywood duo Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney buying struggling Wrexham A.F.C. in February 2021. The famous club was on its knees financially and was languishing in the fifth tier of the English pyramid system (despite Wrexham being a Welsh club).

Investment on the pitch was enhanced by the Disney + “Welcome to Wrexham” docuseries which generated global profile for the town and football club.

From Wisconsin to Burnley

In May 2023, NFL defensive end JJ Watt became the latest in a string of American personalities to take a stake in British football club when he and his wife, ex-USWNT international player Kealia, became minority investors in the Clarets.

Speaking to the BBC recently, the Wisconsin native confirmed that the idea of investing in English soccer was an idea that he has held for some time.

Watt has seen the side from Lancashire suffer relegation from the top flight as they look to bounce back to the promised (and lucrative) land of the Premier League.

The reward of promotion and jeopardy of relegation is by and large an alien concept in American sport but this jeopardy was part of the attraction for Watt becoming involved with Burnley.

“When you know there is nothing bad that can happen if you finish last, it kind of dilutes the product,” he said.

“When there is a literal consequence to winning and losing it makes a sport as close to the truest and most pure form that you can have.

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