From athletes and actors to venture capitalists and billionaires—investors are spending hundreds of millions to stake a claim in the next sports gold rush: soccer teams. And it’s not just in European markets—Major League Soccer is now averaging more fans per game than the NBA, NHL, and MLB; and the average MLS franchise has grown at five times the rate of other U.S. pro leagues over the last few years. 

Here’s an inside look at the growing U.S. and European soccer market and why soccer teams are such an opportunity space for American investors.

Inside the Multibillion-Dollar Sports Gold Rush: Soccer Teams

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From athletes and actors to venture capitalists and billionaires—investors are spending hundreds of millions to stake a claim in the next sports gold rush: soccer teams.

Why Celebrities Like Ryan Reynolds Are Investing in Soccer

From celebrities to venture capitalists. Investors are spending millions to tap into the next sports gold rush soccer teams. I'm involved in sports ownership. There's a soccer club in the UK. I'm a part of, unlike other professional sports investments, soccer teams can have a much lower barrier to entry with the opportunity for bigger returns later down the road. And it's not just in Europe, the world's game has really gotten a foothold in America, but there are risks. It takes almost as much work and money to have a team that doesn't perform as much as it does to have a team that does perform. Here's an inside look at the rewards and perils of investing in the other kind of football and what's driving the growth of this multibillion dollar industry. Ryan and Rob, how would you sum up that experience tonight? I don't, I'm not sure I can actually process what happened tonight. In 2021 Ryan Reynolds and Rob mcelheny bought the Welsh football team, Wrexham AFC for some $2.5 million. It's an underdog story and it's about interconnectivity between the club and the community. Just three years later, the Wrexham team is worth about $11 million. A more than four fold increase. They're part of a growing group of a Listers to throw their support behind European football leagues. There are opportunities to invest in foreign clubs at a substantial discount relative to what the franchise fees for major league soccer. Brett Johnson is the CEO of benevolent capital, a Los Angeles based venture capital firm that specializes in professional sports investments. Johnson is part owner in several soccer clubs both in and out of the US including Ipswich Town FC A football team that dates back to the 18 seventies. What makes the sport so interesting overseas is the risk of relegation or the carrot or you know, the allure of promotion, the relegation and promotion system is a cornerstone of European football culture fans. Two years ago, we played so bad, we had to drop down from the premier league to a lower league that was called the championship. See, that don't make sense. Teams play in different divisions and have the opportunity to be promoted up or relegated down based on their performance with promotion relegation. There are opportunities to buy lower level clubs, relatively speaking can get discounted valuations in the US. Buying a team in the NFL or NBA typically costs billions of dollars. Meanwhile a mid tier European soccer team can be purchased for just a fraction of that offering a relatively low entry point for would be investors. So as an example when we bought Ipswich, we bought it at league one. So the third level in the soccer pyramid since Johnson's group acquired the team which has been promoted twice, rising through the ranks to the premier league. The premier league is the top level and I would argue the most prominent league in the world. So the benefit again of promotion is you can look at buying lower level clubs discounted prices. If you are so fortunate to get them promoted, you could see that appreciation increase substantially and you also have the risk that you buy a club at any level and can see it relegated. The premier league is the world's largest revenue generating football league. Three on average, most premier league clubs can expect well over $100 million in media rights payouts per season. While MLS clubs receive about $8 million per season. The difference in terms of media rights, the difference in terms of revenue in terms of gray toss for a team that's promoted to the Premier League is staggering. Now us investors want a slice of the growing pie. Just 20 years ago, there were no majority American owners in the premier league. Now nine of the top 20 teams are controlled by us. Investors from billionaires like the Glazer family to massive conglomerates like Fenway Sports Group. Some of these investors are betting on further growth when it comes to media rights. Ah Yes, you're in it now. The Premier league, even though the premier league has one of the largest fan bases in the world, it only brings in about $4.2 billion in annual media deals with just a fraction of that fan base. The NFL takes in more than double that amount about $10 billion each year. Some investors are hopeful that greater investment will come from streaming services looking to cash in on the premier league's massive global audience. Peacock is the streaming home of the Premier League. Now investors are finding opportunities in the US soccer space like at Los Angeles football club or LAF C. As long as you are taking it seriously running it like a business. The valuations tend to go up. Larry Friedman is the co president and CEO of LAF C. He's been a part of the club since it first began in 2014. We are in a great market that enables us with the building we built and the investment we made in the building, we're able to I one of the top handful of average ticket prices in the league. In 2024 LAC became the most valuable major league soccer team with a valuation of $1.2 billion. But it has taken a long time for LAC and major league soccer to get to this point. This league started back in the mid 90 s. The 1st 10 plus years was a struggle and then some things started to click and you saw soccer specific stadiums like Bemo stadium getting built. But over the last five years, US soccer viewership has skyrocketed in 2022. The FIFA World Cup final drew 26 million US viewers more than the NBA finals of the World Series Stanley Cup and even the Winter Olympics. Just two years later, a record breaking 12.1 million fans attended major league soccer matches in the US. That's more than a threefold increase since 2010. This is an incredible time to be invested in soccer. World Cup is coming back in 2026 Lionel Messi, the greatest player, certainly of this generation and arguably the greatest player of all time now plays for Miami. All levels of United States soccer are doing very well. This growth is also reflected in the skyrocketing expansion fees to join the MLS. We acquired our expansion rights for the city of Los Angeles for $110 million a year and a half. Two years ago, the ownership group in San Diego acquired expansion rights in MLS for that market for $500 million. US, soccer isn't always a lucrative business. Less than half of MLS teams actually turn a profit. C has managed to stay ahead of the curve by finding creative ways to maximize its stadium space. 17 home MLS games does not a business model make. We are in the food and beverage business, we are in the merchandise business. We are in the customer experience business. The live entertainment business, tech giants are getting in on the soccer frenzy too. In 2022 Apple acquired exclusive rights to Stream MLS matches in a $2.5 billion deal. It wasn't a deal for a rights fee like all of the other leagues typically do. It was a partnership so that the more we succeed together, the better off we both will be and the growth goes beyond major league soccer. Other divisions like the national women's soccer league or the United Soccer League provide opportunities for smaller time investors. I think an alternative way of looking at sports investing is like what I'm doing and like what a lot of other people are doing, which I would call kind of emerging sports emerging leagues. The franchise fees are a much low for United Soccer League versus Major League soccer. So it provides if you will a lot more oxygen for the capital that you would raise and you would invest, still investing in any professional soccer league, whether in the US or abroad is a risky business. So plenty of examples of investors that have bought premier league clubs and seen themselves relegated. They bought league one club, seen themselves relegated. So there's clearly an risk. If a team drops in the rankings or falls into a lower division, they may lose top players and coaches as they cut costs while US teams don't face the same volatility tied to a relegation system. The stakes and the returns on investment aren't as high either. From my perspective, the lack of what I would call promotion relegation in American sports means it turns off your fan base in most instances. And also you get a lot of ownership groups that will literally effectively just dial it in. Don't spend a lot of time putting a good product on the floor, don't put it, you know, on the pitch, there's no fear of relegation, but I, I would argue that it makes the product less compelling. That's why when it comes to soccer leagues, investors are willing to play the long game. It's not that long ago where the NBA wasn't all that and you look at it now and the NBA is an incredible global property. I expect that coming out of 2026 there is going to be a substantial increase in the interest in our league. It's a lot of work. It's a lot of capital, it's a lot of time. I just always try to caution people that you're not always going to get promoted. Um You're not always gonna win the trophy, you're not always going to get the huge sponsorship and media rights deals. You know, it all takes time.