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Eight of the top 10 Premier League clubs are now owned by Americans. So are a third of all clubs across the four divisions of the English Football League. With the 2026 World Cup arriving on American soil this summer, U.S. investors have already conquered a different kind of field \u2014 Britain\u2019s Premier League and the English football pyramid below it.<\/p>\n
As we approach what sportswriters over there refer to as \u201cthe business end\u201d of the 2025-2026 season, eight of the 10 clubs in the top half of the Premier League table are owned by Americans. Below them, in the English Football League\u2019s \u201cChampionship\u201d (as the pyramid\u2019s second division is confusingly called), four of the eight clubs battling for promotion to the Premier League are U.S.-owned (including the feel-good Ryan Reynolds-Rob McElhenney Wrexham project and its Tom Brady-backed TV documentary rival, Birmingham City). And three of the top eight clubs in the division below them, League One (still confusing, I know), boast American owners. Overall, a majority of Premier League clubs are now in American hands, as are a third of the clubs in the three divisions below that comprise the English Football League.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t long ago that one of America\u2019s most cherished sports was bashing the world\u2019s sport. Soccer was derided as staid and boring, when it wasn\u2019t being characterized as a plot to alter our way of life, to be rejected by red-blooded Americans with the same vehemence we\u2019d rejected such other foreign abominations as the metric system, Socialism, and Esperanto.<\/p>\n
But today, European football, the English varietal in particular, is all the rage among our investing classes. What changed?<\/p>\n
The Promotion\/Relegation Bet<\/p>\n
Well, it turns out the structure and culture of global football is the perfect fit for Wall Street\u2019s animal spirits, offering a far higher-stakes competitive jolt than any American sport ever could to those addicted to competitive speculation and the pursuit of greater financial upside. Americans used to scoff at the existence of ties in soccer, and the lack of playoffs in most of its leagues, as evidence of a \u201cwimp factor\u201d in the game most associated with participation trophies among America\u2019s youth.<\/p>\n
But then America\u2019s capitalists discovered the sport\u2019s system of promotion and relegation (glaringly absent in America\u2019s domestic soccer league), which offers clubs the possibility of moving up and down the game\u2019s various divisions. This promises investors dramatic upside, or the jeopardy of existential implosion, depending on their results on the field. Moneyball reigns supreme in a world where sporting performance has a direct correlation with a club\u2019s financial performance. Win enough, get promoted, your income and valuation soars exponentially (as Wrexham has experienced the last few years). Lose enough, get relegated to a lower division, and you\u2019ll be forced to lay off staff and take a write-down on your investment as your revenues drastically shrink. Not for the\u00a0faint-hearted, but catnip for that certain type who\u2019s made a fortune by outsmarting competing hedge fund managers or private equity firms. And a certain catnip not available in American sports that lack this immediate correlation between financial and sporting performance.<\/p>\n
By contrast, American pro leagues are structured to protect their owners from exactly this kind of jeopardy. The NFL shares revenue equally, enforces a salary cap, and hands the worst team the top draft pick \u2014 socialism in shoulder pads. NBA owners have perfected \u201ctanking,\u201d deliberately losing seasons to improve draft position.<\/p>\n
Finish last in the Social Darwinism of a European football league, and you\u2019re banished to a lower division of the game. If the Cleveland Browns were an English football team, they\u2019d be playing in a Sunday pub league at this point.<\/p>\n
Why Valuations Stay Low \u2014 For Now<\/p>\n
European football\u2019s volatility and jeopardy are also attractive to American investors because they hold down valuations. Only the handful of relegation-proof Premier League clubs have anything approximating US sport franchise valuations, because everyone else\u2019s value could evaporate as a result of a bad season or two. Tom Foley, who also owns the NHL\u2019s Las Vegas Golden Knights, acquired Bournemouth in the Premier League after being surprised he could do so for less than the cost of acquiring a new MLS team. That\u2019s because baked into Bournemouth\u2019s valuation is an assumption that the relatively small club isn\u2019t going to be in the Premier League for the long haul.<\/p>\n
Another attraction to American investors is the English game\u2019s financial chaos, itself exacerbated by the speculative frenzy and dire stakes inherent in promotion\/relegation. A study released in January by the accounting firm BDO claimed that 90% of all football clubs in England\u2019s top four divisions lose money. Again, more catnip for private equity turnaround artists and American financial ingenuity.<\/p>\n
The Intangibles<\/p>\n
Then there are the intangibles, the seductive addictiveness of just how meaningful English football is, both to each club\u2019s community and to the entire planet. Talk to any American invested over there, and they will breathlessly describe to you how the intensity of fans\u2019 passion, the depth of clubs\u2019 local roots, and the game\u2019s global reach are like nothing to be found in US sports.<\/p>\n
So, all in all, what\u2019s not to like? Losing over there might be exponentially more brutal than losing over here, true, but the friendly invaders pouring into Britain don\u2019t see themselves as capable of losing.<\/p>\n
The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.<\/p>\n
#American #billionaires #abandoning #Wall #Street #English #soccer #clubs<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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