They are saying the quickest approach to turn out to be a millionaire is to turn out to be a billionaire first, then buy a sports team.
However the richest Americans appear to have misunderstood the message.
Increasingly, American investors with deep pockets are looking beyond the NFL or the NBA – and heading across the Atlantic to football’s English Premier League (EPL).
Currently, half of the EPL’s 20 teams are partly or wholly owned by US money – and despite inconsistent profits, more could also be on the best way.
It was formed in 1992 when 22 teams broke away from Football League (which dates back to the Eighteen Eighties), the EPL is now a worldwide brand watched in 188 countries with an annual TV audience of over 5 billion people.
For the reason that mid-2000s, the EPL’s three biggest teams – Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal – have been American-owned.
But now Bournemouth, Chelsea, Fulham, Aston Villa, Crystal Palace, Manchester City and Leeds United have also come under a measure of American control.
![Although not a billionaire, American actor Ryan Reynolds became co-owner of the Welsh football team Wrexham, which is now successful both on and off the pitch.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ryan-reynolds-rob-mcelhenney.jpg?w=1024)
Billions of dollars (and viewers) are at stake, and the upcoming sale of Manchester United by its American owners, the Glazers, is making headlines on each side of the pond.
Indeed, the choice to sell Manchester United – considered by many to be the most important prize in British football – has attracted the interest of potential Qatari buyers in addition to British chemical tycoon Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
But apparently there are a couple of American investors who still want to indicate their hands.
Does the value hold them back?
![Los Angeles billionaire Todd Boehly spent a record $5.4 billion on London football club Chelsea in May 2022. It has since spent hundreds of millions of dollars more to add costly new players. spent a record $5.4 billion on London football club Chelsea in May 2022. It has since spent hundreds of millions of dollars adding costly new players.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/todd-boehly.jpg?w=683)
The Glazers aim to make around $7 billion, and in the event that they can get near that figure, it’s going to beat the record $5.4 billion spent on London football club Chelsea by Los Angeles co-owner Todd Boehly in May 2022.
But what do recent owners, especially Americans spoiled for alternative of franchises at home, get out of it?
In line with Kieran Maguire, a football finance expert on the University of Liverpool and presenter of The Price of Football podcast, the EPL – despite these billions of dollars – may very well be underestimated.
“The secret’s the value of sports franchises within the UK,” says The Post. “A number of months ago, Bournemouth was bought for £120m ($185m) by Texas investor Bill Foley.
“It is a bargain, especially given the strength of the US dollar against the pound and the upper costs related to buying a franchise in America.” (The Phoenix Suns, for instance, just sold out for $4 billion.)
![American basketball king Lebron James.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/lebron-james.jpg?w=695)
It is also a bargain as even the weakest team within the EPL receives around $120 million in prize money and broadcast revenue shares every year.
Even so, potential investors will not be necessarily welcomed with open arms.
There’s an inherent suspicion of foreign coaches or owners, especially Americans, which isn’t helped by the mediocre work the Glazers have done at United.
In 2005, the family borrowed a lot of the $950 million needed to purchase United before charging the club again with debt alone.
The resulting strain stifled much-needed investment within the club’s aging stadium and training facilities.
Then there’s Todd Boehly’s short time as owner of Chelsea, which has only cemented the assumption amongst many who Americans know nothing about football.
Inside weeks of his arrival, Boehly sacked coach Thomas Tuchel, who had just won Europe’s premier club competition, the Champions League, replacing him with Graham Potter, who had since overseen just nine wins in 26 matches, leaving Chelsea out of the EPL title race.
Let’s not ignore expenses either.
Up to now, Boehly has spent roughly $720 million buying 17 recent players and $357 million in January 2023 alone.
That is greater than all 78 teams in Europe’s other big leagues combined. Even the larger clubs cannot compete.
Liverpool could also be England’s most successful team, but they can not match Chelsea’s financial strength, despite having LeBron James as a stakeholder.
So can anyone generate income in British football amidst all these player payouts?
![Joel Glazer, a member of the American billionaire family that owns Manchester United, which is currently up for sale and could fetch as much as $7 billion.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/joel-glazer.jpg?w=1024)
Yes, that is Kieran Maguire.
“Take a look at Manchester United,” he adds. “In a superb 12 months, their revenue is around $750-800 million and so they have around 1.1 billion fans worldwide.
“That works out to about 75 cents per fan.
“If the brand new owner can just double that quantity, you are suddenly taking a look at a really profitable business.
It helps that the EPL’s annual revenue continues to be only half of the NFL’s $18 billion – regardless that unlike the NFL or NBA, no EPL games have been staged overseas.
The lucrative prospect of a future ‘European Super League’ – in addition to potential matches outside the UK – is music to investors’ ears.
![American businessman Stan Kroenke owns the Los Angeles Rams football team in the USA and the British football team Arsenal, the majority of which he acquired in 2011.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/stan-kroenke.jpg?w=1024)
But the recognition of the EPP doesn’t all the time translate into profits.
When Cleveland Browns owner Randy Lerner paid $125m for EPL team Aston Villa in 2006, it pumped up $300m in a decade before selling to Chinese businessman Tony Jiantong Xia for just $90m in 2016.
Respected by Forbes magazine the enterprise cost Lerner roughly $100,000 for every day he was in charge.
Still, while English football has clearly turn out to be a toy for billionaires, atypical millionaires are also joining the fray.
In February 2021, actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney bought Wrexham, a Welsh club that plays within the fifth tier of English football, the National League.
![British football fans have long viewed foreign owners (and coaches) with suspicion, as evidenced by enthusiastic Arsenal supporters protesting US owner Stan Kroenke.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/arsenal-fans-against-stan-kroenke.jpg?w=1024)
For the reason that takeover, the team has gone from strength to strength, topping their division and preparing to maneuver as much as the subsequent level of football.
And after “Welcome To Wrexham”, a Disney+ documentary series following the team’s fortunes, the town has turn out to be a tourist destination with fans from as far-off as Australia and Canada to observe the games.
It’s, says Reynolds, “very time consuming, emotionally draining, financially idiotic… and utterly addictive.”
And the value paid?
Only $2.5 million.