LeBron James' $6.5 million investment in Liverpool created a domino effect that led to Ryan Reynolds, Tom Brady and JJ Watt buying into English football for almost $1 billion
LeBron James was way ahead of everyone else.
The four times NBA The champion and all-time top scorer blazed a lucrative trail in 2011 that players like Ryan Reynolds, Tom Bradyand JJ Watt have been doing it ever since.
Liverpool FC was sold to American John W. Henry's Fenway Sports Group (FSG) in 2010 for $478m (£300m).
JaimeA billionaire reported to have earned more than $479m (£363m) in career earnings, he joined a year later with a $6.5m (£4.9m) investment for a two per cent ownership stake in the historic club.
In 2021, LeBron converted his stake in Liverpool into a one percent stake in FSG's global empire, following the Reds' 2019 Champions League victory and Premier League title a year later.
He made James and his longtime business manager, Maverick Carter, co-owners of FSG. Boston Red Sox (MLB) and Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL).
Liverpool also produced a line of official LeBron merchandise, an LFC X LeBron collection that includes footwear and apparel, placing the revered James brand before new eyes in previously unexplored places.
It was a business relationship that could best be described as mutually beneficial.
On the pitch, Liverpool experienced one of their most successful periods in decades with Jurgen Klopp at the helm.
This has made the six-time European Cup winners the fourth most valuable football team in the world ($5.37bn, £4.07bn) in 2024, according to Forbes, behind only real Madrid ($6.6 billion, £5 billion), Manchester United ($6.55 billion, £4.9 billion) and Barcelona ($5.6 billion, £4.2 billion).
Meanwhile, James has converted an initial $6.5m (£4.9m) investment in Liverpool into a one per cent stake in FSG valued at $10bn (£7.5bn), a stake that could be worth as much as $100m (£75m) to the club. Los Angeles Lakers star.
The King was winning on and off the field and his involvement in English soccer created a domino effect for equally avid American athletes turned businessmen who wanted a slice of the pie.
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The couple of actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenneyFrom Deadpool and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, they turned their gaze towards an industrial and commercial centre in North Wales.
The company RR McReynolds Company, LLC purchased relatively small fish Wrexham for $2.5 million (£2 million) in February 2021.
The Red Dragons are now worth around $11.8m (£9m) and have enjoyed back-to-back promotions to League One while increasingly earning the lucrative appeal of the North American market through an Emmy-nominated Disney+ documentary ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ and Reynolds’ ludicrous marketability.
NFL legend JJ Watt and his wife, former US international soccer player Kealia Watt, followed suit by purchasing a minority stake in Burnley in 2023.
The exact percentage and amount paid is unknown, but 84 per cent of Burnley is owned by US firm ALK Capital through various subsidiaries, with the remaining 16 per cent owned by individual shareholders such as the Watts.
Sevenfold Super Bowl Champion and businessman Tom Brady also jumped on the bandwagon last year, becoming a minority owner of City of Birmingham.
The former NFL player has partnered with Knighthead Capital Management and owns 3.3 percent of the club, which was recently relegated to English soccer's third tier.
He New England Patriots Icon sits on the club's advisory board as chair, a role that includes working on new commercial partnership opportunities and collaborating with the sports science department “to advise on health, nutrition, wellness and recovery systems and programs.”
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The NFL's interest in English football is at an all-time high and, in 2023, the owners of the San Francisco 49ers — 49ers Enterprises — took over the championship team Leeds United as part of a $223m (£170m) acquisition.
American businessmen Paraag Marathe and Jed York run the 49ers' investment arm and bought a 15 per cent stake in the Yorkshire club in 2018 before increasing it to 44 per cent in 2021.
49ers Enterprises has attracted numerous well-known American celebrities, including NBA players Larry Nance Jr, Russell Westbrook and TJ McConnell, who joined as minority partners.
Golfers Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas Also participating as minority shareholders are the legendary Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps.
Actors Russell Crowe and Will Ferrell are the latest celebrities to buy a stake in the group.
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Likewise, the AFC Bournemouth They got the Hollywood treatment when Creed star Michael B. Jordan was announced as a minority shareholder as part of Bill Foley's acquisition.
Billionaire Foley, who also owns the NHL's Vegas Golden Knights, bought the South Coast club with several other partners in 2022 for $147m (£111m).
This week it was learned that the former MLB center fielder Dexter Fowler was part of the Cherries ownership group as a minority investor.
Bournemouth were one of nine Premier League teams on the opening weekend of the 2024-25 Premier League season with US investment.
Arsenal (Stan Kroenke), Aston Villa (Wes Edens), Chelsea (Todd Boehly, Clearlake Capital), Crystal Palace (John Textor, Josh Harris, David Blitzer), Fulham (Shahid Khan), Ipswich City (ORG, BPSP and Avenue Sports), Liverpool (Fenway Sports Group) and Manchester United (Glazer Family) are proof that the American invasion of English football is here and here to stay.
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Money is clearly an important factor.
The Premier League – and English football as a whole – is a global spectacle where entertainment, sport and commercial interests come together.
Combine that with its rich history, cultural significance and virtually unlimited potential for financial gain and it becomes clear why deep-pocketed American tycoons are increasingly drawn to the beautiful game on this side of the Atlantic.
American billionaires (and sportsmen) are undoubtedly attracted by the global reach of Premier League clubs. The Premier League is the most watched football league in the world, broadcast in 212 territories to 643 million households and with a potential television audience of 4.7 billion people.
That's a lot of dollars.
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In addition, American sports stars are attracted by the passion of English fans and the opportunity to develop their own personal brands in a cash-rich market with a long-standing affinity for American culture.
And while players like Brady and Watt rarely make the difference between promotion and relegation, or even actively participate in the day-to-day running of clubs, they do represent an obvious way for teams to “get in” to engage with a willing-to-spend American audience that is ripe and ready to become willing consumers having not yet pinned its colours to the mast of an English club.
American celebrities joining English soccer teams is a recent phenomenon that isn't going away.
There has been almost a billion dollars in celebrity-backed investment in the Premier League over the past decade, as more and more household names realise the huge advantages of partnering with English football institutions.
LeBron realized that in 2011 and remains the shining example of an American athlete and an English football club coming together to form a perfect, financially motivated marriage of convenience.
