Why Do Celebrities Want To Own UK Football Clubs?

How do you make a small fortune in football? Start with a large one.

There’s Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney and Wrexham AFC. Or Tom Brady and Birmingham City. The U.S. Office star Mindy Kaling and Swansea City. One Direction’s Louis Tomlinson and Doncaster Rovers. And that’s just for starters.

Mike Blood, Head of Corporate at JMW Solicitors, is a renowned lawyer who has been involved in the acquisition and sale of a number of high-profile sports clubs, and he knows just why those with the funds to do so want to buy such organisations. “One word,” he says. “Access.”

“Buying outright, or investing heavily, in a football club, is perhaps the most effective way to make those who matter in business take you seriously. In business, no matter how successful you are, not everyone will take notice. But if you own Manchester United - they’ll take your call.”

And of course for those in Hollywood, in showbusiness, it’s another way to underline your credentials as a business magnate, someone with heft, and with significance.

The sums of money involved are eye-watering. The acquisition of a Premier League football club is only open to a small elite, but for that elite, the door-opening bonus attached to such an acquisition is considered to be worth the outlay.

Making money out of that acquisition is another issue entirely. You can invest in improving the squad to gain promotion or sustain your League Table position (and entry to the Champions League – another level of income entirely); you can develop your own young, promising players and sell them on, making a profit each time, or you can aim for a hybrid version of the two, running the club really efficiently and ensuring you have a good manager in place, sweating your assets, bringing on board high calibre sponsors and exploiting every merchandising opportunity.

*Ryan Reynolds & Rob McElhenney of Wrexham AFC*

“Someone like Tom Brady, ex-NFL, is now creating another leg to his table so to speak,” explains Mike. “He already has reputation, now he is adding other sporting associations and gaining acceptance in that field. As has been said before, if you consider that all you have are your skills as a sportsperson, everything is on top of the table. One leg of that table is recognition as an athlete, but to keep things upright, you need lots of legs, especially after you retire.

“Because as a sportsperson, after around the age of 32 your best years are behind you. Actors, generally, are similar in this instance (with some high-profile exceptions). But your best years might turn out to be not those of a Hollywood star, but as a business entrepreneur. The table becomes solid, balanced, and in a very real sense, manifestly tangible.”

There is also a crucial difference in the acquisition of a sports club compared with the acquisition of normal businesses. “You can keep it secret. You don’t have to do the deal in the public domain – that matters,” says Mike. “Of course, on a Club acquisition, the regulatory side of things is not the same. You need Premier League or EFL approval and must pass the very exacting fit and proper person test, proving your source of funds, the sustainability of those funds, and you must disclose the parties involved. The pressures, compared with acquiring another business, are very different.

*NFL star Tom Brady has recently invested in Birmingham Football Club*

“When you buy a sports club, you have other significant stakeholders, ones that you don’t have with the acquisition of a business: the press, the fans, and the governing body. Not everyone is prepared for that, no matter how well briefed they believe themselves to be.

“But the glamour of owning a football club is unquestionably a huge motivation, despite the cost. And to the very small number of people moving in these circles, the money, the sums involved, are irrelevant. One thinks of watching the final series of Succession. It was suggested to the board of Waystar Royco to stop worrying about who owned what and instead to ‘just take the money’ – billions were involved. But they wouldn’t, because they wanted something different. Glory, and a special kind of access that comes with ownership, were what they sought. That’s perhaps the motivation of those who buy sports clubs. It’s another world. And it’s one that gives them the recognition, validation (and the potential to generate a legal high) that no other industry can provide.” - Mike Blood, JMW Solicitors.