“Make England Great Again”: This slogan could sum up the invasion of US investors into English football. Acquiring and maintaining clubs in the Premier League has become so expensive in recent years that they can only be managed by wealthy investor giants. No country has as many of these as the fully capitalized USA. Following the recently ratified takeover of Everton FC, ten out of 20 English first division clubs are under the control of American companies, including several top clubs: Arsenal (Stan Kroenke), Aston Villa (V Sports), Bournemouth (Bill Foley), Chelsea (Clearlake), Crystal Palace (John Textor), Everton (Friedkin Group), Fulham (Shahid Khan), Ipswich Town (Gamechanger 20), Liverpool (Fenway Sports Group) and Manchester United (Glazer family).
The trend also continues in the lower divisions: in the second division, Americans own a third of the 24 clubs. Almost four years ago, US actor Rob McElhenney even bought into AFC Wrexham with his Canadian film colleague Ryan Reynolds. The then fifth division team is now in the top group of the third division. Adam Sommerfeld, who works at a consulting firm, told the BBC that he couldn’t imagine why all clubs in the Premier League wouldn’t have owners from the States “in five to ten years.” The sports investment expert assures that every club is in contact with US investors.
In the previous season, the Premier League was broadcast in 189 of 193 UN member states
The attraction for US investors is the skyrocketing global fan interest in English football. In the previous season, the Premier League was broadcast in 189 of 193 UN member states. In total, an incredible 1.87 billion people follow what’s happening in the league according to current statistics. Due to the exploding TV, sponsorship, merchandising and ticket revenues, the top clubs have experienced an impressive increase in value, with their sales approaching the billion mark. Altogether, the clubs earn seven and a half billion euros per season. After the league was founded in 1992, it was a quarter of a billion.
US investors want to further commercialize the growth – and then monetize it. However, according to Deloitte’s financial report, only four first division clubs made a profit in the 2022/23 season. For comparison: According to Forbes, every relevant American football franchise in the USA is currently operating profitably; the same applies to many organizations in baseball, basketball and football. The US leagues have no promotion or relegation and have regulatory elements such as salary caps, trades and drafts. This is one of the reasons why all of the US-run English top clubs took part in the preparation of a closed European super league. Because this project has so far failed resoundingly, the US owners are developing other strange ideas to exploit the game financially and turn fans into consumers.
The direction was given by Josh Wander, one of the US co-founders of 777 Partners, which concluded a purchase agreement for Everton a year ago that was ultimately dissolved. He once unabashedly laid out his vision of eventually no longer selling stadium hot dogs to people, but rather insurance and financial services. London’s niche club Fulham is currently completing a new main stand, which was built into the Thames with special permission. It contains a boutique hotel, a Michelin-star restaurant – and a wellness area with an outdoor pool on the roof. The venue of the NFL club Jacksonville Jaguars, which is also headed by the American-Pakistani Fulham owner Shahid Khan, served as a model for this. And Aston Villa introduced an all-you-can-eat area in the stadium last season: fans with this ticket can help themselves to snack stands and eat the food at beer tables set up. In addition, there is generally speculation among clubs about the introduction of a service service at the seat.
On average, a Premier League season ticket costs £594 this season
In addition to the alleged improvement of the stadium experience, US investors are concerned with foreign marketing. Liverpool club boss Tom Werner told the Financial Timeshe was determined that a Premier League match should one day take place in New York City. He even has the crazy idea of introducing a day on which the league would be celebrated all over the world: for example with coordinated games in Tokyo, Los Angeles, Rio de Janeiro and Riyadh. Chelsea’s co-owner Todd Boehly had previously promoted a so-called 39th matchday – an all-star game overseas with the best kickers in the Premier League. Former Chelsea professional Pat Nevin is said to have warned the club against another unusual idea: the introduction of a kiss cam, which is used for entertainment during breaks in other sports. “No, don’t do a kiss cam,” he told Chelsea, Nevin emphasized on the BBC: “It’s a small thing, but you can’t imagine what reaction you would get.”
England’s traditional audience is skeptical about the Americanization of their own football, also because of the ever-increasing ticket prices associated with it. On average, a Premier League season ticket costs £594 this season – three times as much as in the Bundesliga. At the start of the season, for example, Villa announced that they would charge a top surcharge of up to 97 pounds per ticket for home games during the Champions League preliminary round. In recent weeks there have been repeated organized protests by fans in the Premier League. In Liverpool, supporters even stopped supporting an important European Cup match in April.
In an essay by New York Times With the title “When a bunch of damn Americans took over English football …”, noble English fan Nick Hornby criticizes the development: Football clubs have always been owned by rich people, says Hornby. But this used to happen in an old-fashioned and elegant way. Nevin agreed that the exploitation hit the English supporters to the core. The British government has responded to investors’ drive for profit by legislating an independent regulator over the failed Superliga. In the future, such a control body is intended to monitor and limit the influence of US investors. Because from the English point of view, their own Premier League is already great enough.
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