How American billionaires, Ryan Reynolds, LeBron James and Tom Brady have upended English soccer

New York Post

9 hours ago

The Americans are coming — and they're buying up England's football clubs.
This past season, the top three leagues were all won by clubs backed by US money. Currently, twelve of the twenty teams in England's Premier League, the top division and the most watched sports league in the world, are wholly or partially owned by US investors — among them notable celebrities such as actors Michael B. Jordan and Will Ferrell, NFL star J.J. Watt and basketball great LeBron James. The lower divisions are also dominated by American money and bold-facers such as Tom Brady, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
There's an 'American-led revolution' in English football, Kieran Maguire, author of 'The Price of Football' and co-host of the podcast of the same name, told The Post of all the US investment. 'It's a bit like crypto. There's a fear of missing out.'
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12 Actor Michael B. Jordan (left) owns a stake in AFC Bournemouth. Here, he poses with the team's striker, Dominic Solanke.
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12 Will Ferrell (second from left) attends a Leeds United game. Ferrell is one of several American celebs who have a stake in the club.
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The invasion comes as the US's presence in the international soccer world expands, and Americans have a growing, seemingly insatiable interest in the sport.
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Starting Sunday, the US is hosting the FIFA Club World Cup.The 32-team tournament will feature two English club teams — Manchester City and Chelsea. The latter was purchased in 2022 by an American consortium led by billionaire Todd Boehly, who co-owns the Los Angeles Dodgers. In 2026, the US will jointly host the World Cup, along with Canada and Mexico.
For American celebrities and businessmen, buying a British club team is a relatively affordable way to get a piece of the action — and potentially far more fun than adding yet another multi-million dollar home to their real estate profile.
'English football is an assault on all the senses simultaneously, especially for Americans who are thirsting for ever more unique experiences,' said Tom Wagner, the co-founder of the US-based Knighthead Capital Management, which took over the Birmingham City team in July 2023.
12 When England's season came to a close earlier this spring, the top three leagues were all won by teams backed by US money. Birmingham City (pictured), whose backers include Tom Brady, won the third-tier championship.
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The Yankee teams are certainly having a good run.
Liverpool — owned by the Boston-based Fenway Sports Group (FSG), which counts James as a stakeholder and also owns the Red Sox — won the Premier League championship at the end of April.
12 Liverpool, which counts LeBron James as an investor, won the Premier League.
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Leeds United, which is owned by California-based 49ers Enterprises — whose investors include Will Ferrell, Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps and golfer Jordan Spieth — won the second tier Championship in early May and has been promoted to the Premier League.
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In early April, Birmingham City, whose backers include Brady, won the third-tier championship, just beating out Wrexham — which is owned by Reynolds and McElhenney — for the top prize. Both teams have been promoted to the second tier.
The actor buddies bought Wrexham for just $2.5 million in 2021. At that point, the club languished in the fifth tier, but after a 'Ted Lasso'-esque arc and three promotions, the team is now just one step away from the Premier League and reportedly valued at up to $400 million.
12 Under Rob McElhenney (left) and Ryan Reynolds, the once struggling Wrexham team has experienced a remarkable rise.
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The team's rise under Reynolds and McElhenney has been documented in four seasons of the Disney+ show 'Welcome to Wrexham,' making it a cross-promotional bonanza that others can only dream of.
'These guys are professional storytellers with tens of millions of social media followers and a spectacular acumen for promoting a brand and creating value in storylines,' said Wagner.
Even without Wrexham's Cinderella story, celeb buy-ins can make for great promotion for both sides.
12 Part of the appeal of English soccer clubs to investors is the unique fan culture.
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For stars, it's 'an opportunity to grow their personal brands outside the US and the same thing works in reverse, as the key international market for English clubs at the moment is the US,' Andrew Umbers, a partner at Oakwell Sports Advisory in London, told the New York Times. 'So, if you can bring in an American superstar like LeBron James or Tom Brady, who can give you massive reach in the US for a small amount of equity, why wouldn't you?'
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Brady hasn't just lent his fame to Birmingham, he's also given the team practical advice on nutrition, recovery and creating a winning culture.
'There's not a day goes by when I don't speak to Tom about Birmingham City,' said Wagner. 'His engagement is invaluable.'
12 Tom Brady (left, with David Beckham) has been keenly involved with the Birmingham team, offering up nutrition and training advice.
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Buying an English club, or a stake in one, for a mere seven-digit number is also far more accessible that prohibitively expensive US sports franchises.
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'In the recent Forbes valuations, you were looking at around 10 to 15 billion dollars to buy an NFL franchise, and even teams in Major League Soccer were valued at over $1 billion,' said Maguire, a football finance expert.
In 2017, Michael Eisner's Tornante Company bought Portsmouth, which is stationed on England's south coast and plays in the second tier, for a mere $7 million.
It was a 'great club that needed direction' and wasn't 'catastrophically overpriced like 90% of sports clubs around the world,' Eisner told The Post. The former chairman and CEO of the Walt Disney Company, he's also invested in NHL and MLB teams.
12 LeBron James watches a Liverpool match. He's a stakeholder in the team, which recently won the Premier League Championship.
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But not everyone is thrilled with American involvement, and in some cases, Maguire noted, 'The clubs' loyal local supporters may not like it.'
The fervent fans of Manchester United have spent two decades at loggerheads with the Glazer family, an American dynasty that made its money in shopping malls and also owns the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Detractors allege that the Glazers have saddled the once debt-free club with liabilities — over $1 billion according to some reports — while paying themselves handsomely and neglecting the team and its crumbling Old Trafford stadium.
The Glazers rarely attend matches, and United had its worst season ever this year, finishing in 15th place.
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12 Some fans haven't loved what Avram Glazer (left, with Manchester United CEO Omar Berrada) and his family have done with Manchester United.
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'There's no doubt that the Glazers … aren't really football fans,' Maguire said. 'What they are is fans of money and that's always their focus.'
When they bought United in 2005, it was worth an estimated $1.5 billion. Last month, Forbes ranked it the world's second most valuable football club, at $6.6 billion. Under the Glazers, the club's revenue has quadrupled, to roughly $900 million for the 2024-2025 season, according to projections.
Compared to the Glazers, Wagner has strived to be a different sort of mogul on the pitch.
After Knighthead took over Birmingham City in July 2023, the American financier immersed himself in the English game.
12 Billionaire Tom Wagner strives to be an involved owner.
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When the team was relegated from the Premier League to the second tier after his first season, Wagner stood at his seat talking to fans about his plans to return the club to former glories.
'I wanted them to know I was hurting as much as them and that we understood the responsibility to make it right,' he said.
Wagner insists the Knighthead ownership group attend away matches not in hospitality suites but with traveling supporters in the stands.
'It means engaging with fans, cheering with them, going through all the joys and sorrows,' he said.'That means buying a round of pints and talking at the bar.'
The American celebrity invasion isn't limited to England.
12 Eva Longoria (with husband José Bastón) is an investor in Mexico's Club Necaxa.
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Actors Eva Longoria and Kate Upton are investors in Mexico's Club Necaxa, while talk show hosts Mark Consuelos and Kelly Ripa have shares in Italian team Campobasso. Basketball star Kevin Durant has acquired a stake in the reigning European Champions, Paris Saint-Germain.
Two years ago, JP Morgan was set to fund a $4.2 billion European Super League, where 12 of the continent's top teams would form a breakaway competition. The idea was met with huge backlash from fans and even Prince William weighed in, warning that it could 'damage the game we love.'
The idea was shelved and the US banking behemoth issued a surprising apology.
But, the Yanks continue to advance on English turf.
12 Kate Upton also has a stake in Mexico's Club Necaxa.
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If just two more clubs in the Premier League succumb to US investment, it would mean the Americans have the 14 votes needed to pass any vote and potentially change the league in dramatic ways, such as staging games stateside.
'While American-led attempts to change the Premier League have been foiled, it's unlikely such ideas have gone away for good,' Maguire said. 'It's not over yet.'