Oh the beautiful game! Everyone wants a share. With the final days of the World Cup heralding the return of the Premier League at the other end of Christmas, there really is no escaping the football mania.
Following in the footsteps of Drake, LeBron James and Ryan Reynolds, Michael B. Jordan is the latest American star to settle in an English football league, becoming co-owner of AFC Bournemouth.
With all these Americans stepping foot in the Premier League, you’d think we might start seeing the back of all ‘football’, but apparently not. A bit too much to ask, huh?
All joking aside, the USMNT’s participation in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar has shown that there is growing national pride in the sport, and with 2026 set to take place in the United States, that doesn’t will only intensify.
While a correlation between the two may be unlikely, as American football participation grows domestically, its international presence through investment has also increased significantly in recent years.
Much of this involvement is massively frowned upon in the UK due to the problems clubs such as Manchester United have faced under American ownership.
On the other hand, however, teams like Wales’ Wrexham AFC have benefited massively from American ownership by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, while Liverpool FC have welcomed the additional international recognition that minority ownership and ambassador LeBron James have brought.
Drake also found himself aligned with LeBron through football, thanks to the huge pump of their investment companies in AC Milan. Now Michael B. Jordan joins this growing alumnus as a consortium he is part of has bought a 49.9% minority stake in AFC Bournemouth.
With Manchester City and Newcastle United enjoying huge buying power under Saudi ownership, and Liverpool likely following suit, more clubs with less buying power are likely to start taking advantage of US investment to increase their chances of success against super league teams.
What this will mean for AFC Bournemouth and their placement in the rankings going forward remains to be seen.
Comments are closed.