Recent news of American billionaire John McEvoy submitting a bid for Sheffield Wednesday is part of a recent surge of US UHNWs investing in British football.
Last week, American billionaire John McEvoy made an offer for the Yorkshire club in partnership with the Chicago-based Storch family – a previously opposing group. The US consortium is up against two separate bids from UK retail billionaire Mike Ashley and Dunfermline Athletic co-owner James Bord. The club, nicknamed ‘the Owls’, is reportedly up for sale for around £30 million.
On December 8, alternative asset giant Apollo announced the acquisition of a 10 per cent stake in Welsh football club Wrexham, which is co-owned by Hollywood duo Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. The Championship team was facing a financial crisis before the actors invested in the club in 2021, buying it for approximately £2 million, according to ESPN. With the deal set to be formalised in 2026, this is the second minority investment in the club since US billionaire Allyn Family Office acquired a small stake in the team.
Additionally, American billionaires are behind several of English football’s most successful powerhouses. Texan property magnate Stanley Kroenke owns Arsenal, having used some of his $21.3 billion fortune to gradually buy shares in the north London side since 2007. Manchester United was gradually bought by the Glazer family for £790 million between 2003 and 2005.
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John W. Henry’s Fenway Sports Group (FSG) – previously known as NESV – took ownership of Liverpool in October 2010, acquiring the club from American duo Tom Hicks and George Gillett for £300 million. It is now valued at £4.2 billion, according to Forbes.
Dan Friedkin, another Texan multibillionaire, bought Everton for over £400 million in December 2024. Friedkin made his £9.4 billion fortune through exclusive rights to distribute Toyota vehicles in numerous US states.
Why are people investing in UK football clubs?
UK football clubs present an exciting investment for UHNWs, says Andrew L. Cohen, executive chairman at J.P. Morgan Global Private Bank.
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‘Sport has truly emerged as a compelling asset class, offering resilient growth and return streams that are less correlated with traditional markets,’ Cohen said. ‘Ownership is both a strategic and emotional endeavour, aligning family unity, institutional capital and generational legacy around a shared passion.’
Sports clubs are often resilient to macroeconomic pressures, argued Richard Bevan-Williams, director of Deloitte’s sport M&A advisory.
‘Both UHNWs and sophisticated private equity investors are attracted by the tailwinds football has felt in the past few years,’ Bevan-Williams said. ‘It commands mass audiences and there is an intergenerational tribal feeling. This loyalty exists in very few other industries, which attracts investor pools.’
Of all global sports investments made in 2024, 50 per cent were in football, according to Deloitte’s 2025 Sports Investment Outlook, a report analysing upcoming trends in sports finance. Of this 50 per cent, 16 per cent was concentrated in Europe’s ‘Big Five’ leagues: England’s Premier League, Germany’s Bundesliga, Spain’s La Liga, Italy’s Serie A and France’s Ligue 1. This is reflected in monetary terms, with the European football market growing eight per cent in the 2023/24 season to a record €38 billion.
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English football is particularly attractive to investors due to its large fan base, Bevan-Williams added.
‘Unmatched scale brings increased commercial opportunity,’ he said. ‘You’ve got all the ingredients: sporting intensity, global superstars and full stadiums – this is all really attractive to investors.’
The projected aggregate revenue for Premier League clubs in the 2025/26 season is £6.9 billion, a £300 million increase on the previous season’s performance, according to Deloitte’s Annual Review of Football Performance.
Likewise, the Championship, one rung below the Premier League in English football, has seen significant success in recent years. It was the second-most attended league in European football in the 2023/24 season, with 12.7 million matchgoers collectively, beaten only by the Premier League. This surge in attendance correlated with profits, with Championship clubs’ revenue approaching £1 billion that season – a £207 million increase on the 2022/23 figures.
‘As more investors enter the market, this is creating a more liquid and attractive environment for football clubs,’ Bevan-Williams added. ‘It also increases the potential for future exit strategies for those investors. You’ve got investors coming in who can sell their assets once they have grown, like any other asset class.’
[See also: Why so many wealthy Americans are moving to the UK]
English football clubs are particularly appealing to US investors because the UK sports market is comparatively cheaper than its American counterpart, argued sports and entertainment tax specialist Oriana Morrison.
The Dallas Cowboys, the most valuable sports franchise in America, is worth $13 billion as of August 2025, according to Forbes. Manchester United is valued at $6.6 billion, showing that while both countries’ sports industries hold significant monetary value, the UK’s market is comparatively more affordable for investors. On a smaller scale, Sheffield Wednesday, valued at approximately £30 million, could be an attractive prospect for an investor looking to diversify their portfolio.
Morrison added that UK football fans are more open to US investors than they once were, due to the financial and sporting success this can bring.
‘As the case with the success of Wrexham shows, Brits are slightly more open to American investors than they potentially would be to investors from other parts of the world,’ she said. ‘Perhaps the Ted Lasso effect has made UK fans more open to the prospect of an American consortium owning their clubs.’
North Americans accounted for 55 per cent of all global sports investors in 2024, according to Deloitte.
While increased money is being injected into the beloved British sport, Morrison emphasised that fan opinion still carries significant weight.
‘I think the fans have a lot of influence over these deals,’ Morrison said. ‘For example, when FIFA decides on what sponsored partnerships they are going to engage in, they consider more than just the financial situation. They also need to consider how that partnership is going to be interpreted by the fans. They need to contribute to the sport and culture overall, just as investors would need to do as well.’
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