American Owned
A deep dive on the major power taking control of English Football - American Ownership and the direction of English football.
The growing influence over English football right now is coming from across the Atlantic. At the time of writing and as Trump tariffs the planet, American owned clubs currently sit at the top of all four tiers of the English football league pyramid.
Premier League – Liverpool (FSG)
Championship – Leeds United (49ers Enterprises Group)
League 1 – Birmingham City (Knighthead Capital Management)
League 2 – Wallsall (Trivela Group)
There are now more than 30 football clubs in England and Wales that are under some form of American ownership. A level of investment that is ramping up with no signs of slowing down.
The type of ownership model varies from Investment Groups / Equity Funds, Multi Sport Ownership Groups or just extremely wealthy individuals who want to be part of an exclusive club of 92 and enjoy the prestige of owning one of the rarest commodities on earth.
Six of the football club owners also have stakes in NFL franchises, the importance of this is discussed further on.
American ownership - Premier League clubs:
American ownership - English Football League clubs:
USA links to European Football
American investment and lucrative partnerships within football are not limited to the English football pyramid. Spain’s LA Liga, Italy’s Serie A, UEFA the governing body of European football and FIFA the governing body of World Football all doubling down and chasing the American dream. Intentions are clear, unlock more revenue.
Eight clubs in the Italian Serie A are now US owned including both of the Milan giants AC and Inter, as well as current Europa League holders Atalanta.
In Spain, La Liga has in play the La Liga North America, the 50-50 joint venture (JV) between the La Liga and Relevent Sports. The multi-year deal sees American owned Relevent control the leagues media and commercial rights in the USA, Canada and Mexico. According to the La Liga media release the JV’s purpose “is driving growth and increasing LaLiga and its clubs’ brand presence in North America.”
Relevant Sports is owned by Stephen Ross, whose sporting portfolio also includes NFL franchise, the Miami Dolphins.
Relevents website describes the company as”
“Far more than a traditional broker for commercial rights, Relevent provides our partners with a full-service platform for premium football properties committed to expanding and innovating internationally. We’ve consistently delivered record-breaking media rights and sponsorship agreements for our partners through a combination of deep market knowledge, strategic relationships, and financial investments of our own capital. Beyond our rights commercialization capabilities, Relevent is the premier football event organizer in the United States and has more than a decade's experience in building, organizing, and operating high-profile football matches and tournaments in North America and Asia..”
Relevent also holds lucrative media agreements with the English Premier League, English Football League and Germany’s Bundesliga.
However Relevent’s recently announced deal with UC3, the JV between UEFA and the European Club Association (ECA), will see them become a major stakeholder and influencer on decisions related to the direction of top flight European club football.
The UC3 contract award has secured Relevent a global mandate to market, sell and manage the delivery of UEFA men’s club competitions’ commercial rights for six seasons, from 2027/28 to 2032/33. These are global rights, not just North America, for the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League.
Considering the depth of scope covered under the UC3 media contract and the six season duration of the contract these will be uncharted territories for UEFA. Relevent now occupying a seat at footballs top table.
The desire to bring competitive (not pre-season friendlies) European football matches to the mega stadiums in the USA is strong. A pull that has the heads of Serie A and La Liga gravitating towards them, seemingly in a race to be the first major European football league to play a domestic in-season league game on foreign soil.
The proposed move of one of the premium La Liga fixtures between Barcelona and Atletico to Miami, sprung on fans in October 2024, with the game scheduled to be played as early as December 2024 at the Hard Rock Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins. No questions raised on potential conflicts of interest with Relevent and Miami Dolphins having the same American owner.
The La Liga eventually dropped its plans (for now) after pressure from match going fans. Administrative hurdles also forced the hand of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) to reverse its support.
This was not the first attempt by La Liga and Relevent to move a league match abroad. FIFA intervened and blocked a match between Girona and Barcelona from being played in Miami six years ago.
FIFA strong armed into performing a U-turn on their stance, in 2024 confirmed it will be reviewing its policy and rules that currently restrict domestic games being played in other countries. FIFA breaking under the pressure after Relevent Sports agreed to drop its lawsuit against FIFA if they removed the location restrictions.
FIFA taking a sledge hammer to one of the last remaining legal / compliance barriers that previously blocked the movement of domestic league games abroad.
English Football - Differing types of American Owners
Let’s take a look at three of the club owners listed amongst the American cohort present in the tables above.
The three selected are vastly different in their approach to owning a football club, the direction they are taking the club and their engagement levels with the fans.
The three in question;
The “Community” Focused Owner - Bill Foley (AFC Bournemouth)
The "Entertainment” Focused Owner - Tom Wagner (Birmingham City)
The “Money Drainer” Owner - The Glazer Family (Manchester United)
Bill Foley - The “Community” Focused Owner
The ambition and visions of the American owners are not always aligned with that of the fans.
Most supporters, hope their club owners prioritise success on the pitch, long term sustainability and promote productive engagement with the local fans and the local community. Keeping ticket pricing affordable and league matches in-country also a concern for many fans.
Bill Foley, owner of Bournemouth, seems to have hit the sweet spot. Since taking over the reigns in December 2022, the club has hit new heights, improving on their league position every seasons since Foley took over ownership of the club.
Andoni Iraola’s management and style of play has the Cherries pushing for European football with wins this season against Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham, Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest. Not only exceeding expectation in the league, Bournemouth have also made their way to the Quarter Finals of the FA Cup, where Manchester City stand in the way of a trip to Wembley.
Foley has allowed the club to invest in new players aswell as infrastructure, outlaying a reported 30 million pound in building a state-of-the art training facility which is due to be completed in 2025. A brand new stadium is also on the horizon.
In a recent interview with Sky Sports News, when asked the question “What are the key things you wish to build upon?” Foley responded with “what i’m really focused on is community involvement, embedding ourselves in the community and have the community embedded within us”
When asked by the BBC, during a pre season tour in the USA, about potentially moving league games abroad, Foley responded with:
"In terms of playing actual Premier League matches in America? We should play in the UK. That is where they belong. I am very respectful of our fans and the whole system. I wouldn't want to be involved in changing any of that. I believe if you talk to our fans at Bournemouth, they think Foley actually respects our system and respects our heritage. And I do. Premier League games in America? No.”
Another football success story for Foley has been in Australia’s A-League with Auckland FC, where he is the majority owner. Auckland FC current sit first in the A-league, 4 points clear and a game in hand. What’s impressive is this is the first season the football team has competed in the A-League.
The club assembling a team, comprising of 27+ players who were transferred in at the start of the season. Through a combination of smart player investments and good coaching they are defying all odds. Like Bournemouth, Foley also has plans on the horizon for a new stadium.
As long as Foley continues to support and push Bournemouth towards their quest for European football and maintains his stance on community and club heritage first then the Cherries fanbase will back him.
Tom Wagner - The “Entertainment” Focused Owner
The promotion and relegation structure of English football also offers American investors opportunities to buy into the lower leagues and work their way up towards the holly grail of revenue generators, the English Premier League. A sports model not available in the NFL, NBA or MLS.
Birmingham City, currently majority owned by wealthy American Tom Wagner’s, Knighthead Capital Management, find themselves top of League One with daylight between them and their closest rivals, one of which is Wrexham, also American owned.
To expedite promotion from League One, they have spent big on players, including a league record fee of £15million pounds for the services of Jay Stansfield from Fulham, his form in front of goal slightly justifying the astronomical price tag.
Wagner, who is also co-owner of the NFL team Las Vegas Raiders, has grand plans for Birmingham City. Proposal for a new 60,000 seater stadium, away from St Andrews, is under development with land already purchased in East Birmingham for a figure reported to be between £50million and £100million.
In a April 2024 interview with BBC Sport, when asked about the timeframe for building the stadium, Wagner went on to say:
“My timeframe is lunacy but we'll look to get this completed in five years,"
The club say the site will have "a new multi-use stadium, high-performance training facilities and other mixed-use real estate development including a range of entertainment options".
"The total investment is between £2-3bn. I don't know how quickly we can pursue that. I hope with immediacy."
A multi-purpose stadium, 5 years to build at a cost of about £2-3billion pounds.
Sound familiar?
A similar schedule and cost estimate to what Manchester United have put on the table for their recently announced 100,000 capacity stadium.
In an Interview with Sky Sports, Wagner also made it clear he wants to bring NFL Events and other entertainment events to the new stadium. Looking to follow in the footsteps of Tottenham Hotspurs, whose 62,000 capacity stadium continues to bring in substantial revenue.
One of the main contributors for increased revenues listed in Tottenham’s June 2023 Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements was driven by “hosting non-football events”. These events being:
The NFL with four franchises playing across two matches.
Rugby Union team Saracens who competed against Harlequins in the Rugby Union Premiership also continued their tenancies at THS.
Music concerts were hosted, with Guns N Roses and Lady Gaga performing and Beyoncé performing five shows.
Boxing match between Tyson Fury and Derek Chisora.
Rugby Union exhibition match between Barbarians and an Al Blacks XV.
Tyson Fury s Derek Chisora - Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium - Photo via
The Tottenham blueprint , which Wagner is keen to roll out at Birmingham’s future stadium, is similar to that of many NFL stadiums, including the Allegiant Stadium home of the NFL club Las Vegas Raiders, for whom Wagner and business partner Tom Brady have a 10% stake.
In 2025 the 65,000 capacity Allegiant Stadium will host a long list of non-sporting events including Wrestlemania, Beyonce, AC-DC, Kendrick Lamar, Coldplay and Post Malone. A revenue generating behemoth.
In March 2025 the stadium also hosted English Rugby League teams Wigan Warriors and Warrington Wolves. Also on the cards, if hints made by Wagner and Tom Brady (minority owner) are to eventuate, is a Birmingham City pre-season tour in Las Vegas at the end of the season.
No doubt the FIFA reversal on rules related to the location of where domestic football matches are played will be on Wagner’s Radar. A competitive European football match in Las Vegas seeming more likely every season.
Wagners plans seem clear, get out of League One and back into the Premier League in the shortest possible time frame. Once in the Premier League set-up an NFL type operating model and source as much commercial and stadium revenue as possible, including the hosting of non-sporting events.
For now, Birmingham City fans are very content with the current stewardship of their club. How tickets are allocated and priced at their future stadium may challenge or dent this relationship.
The Glazer Family - The “Money Drainer” Owner
In contrast to Birmingham City and AFC Bournemouth supporters, Manchester United fans relationship with their majority owners, the Glazer Family can only be described as toxic at best. Whilst the two previously referenced clubs progress on the pitch, United find themselves in their worst league position in decades.
For Manchester United brining in money has never been a problem, with the club generating in £662million of revenue last year, a club record. Their intercity rivals Manchester City being the only team in England to better that figure.
The problem for Manchester United is how the club is spending money, particularly since the Glazer family took control.
The mismanagement of expenditure can be grouped into 4 categories:
Poor management of player transfer fees and wage structures.
Payment of dividends to club owners regardless of performance on the pitch.
Draining of income to cover interest payments on debt.
Termination payments to coaches, directors and executives.
Manchester United, post-Fergie, have spent over one billion pounds on player transfers. The majority of these players have vastly underachieved and are paid some of the highest salaries in the league. Casemiro, Varane and Antony are recent examples. Refer to our previous post here for more on this.
Although you cannot solely blame The Glazers for this, it all happened and continues to happen on their (and Jim Ratcliffe’s) watch and they therefore need to shoulder a hefty amount of blame. Especially considering the dividends they have paid themselves during the same period.
It is reported that the Glazers have lined their pockets with a large majority of the £170million of dividends paid out during their ownership of the club, including £33.6million payout in 2022 alone. This, combined with the £835million pounds of interest payments means the Glazer family have taken over £1billion pounds out of the club , only increasing the supporters outrage towards their absentee owners.
The Glazers financial management of Manchester United and their distant relationship with their fanbase will forever be a stain on the Premier League era of English football.
The Fans Concerns
As reported by the FSA, Ipsos, a leading market research firm, recently issued the results of a survey taken by approximately 3,000 football fans. The purpose of the survey was to gauge their concerns on the current state of the game.
Rising ticket prices the top concern. Breakaway leagues and competitive matches between British clubs being played overseas also raised.
Although teams like Brentford, Liverpool and West Ham have agreed to freeze ticket pricing next season, other clubs still seem content with bumping up the cost of tickets as their silent war against concession discounts and season ticket holders rages on.
Premier League teams seem to be doing their best to increase the amount of tickets that can be sold individually at a higher cost per game than compared to season ticket holders. The tourist fan, one that will pay 3-4 times higher to watch a single game and then spend a bucket load of money in the team store are now the targeted audience.
International fans attending matches is not a bad thing, it contributes towards making football the global game it is. You only have to attend a Brighton game or visit the team store to see Japanese fans drawn to the club to watch their idol Kaeru Mitoma. Similar at Tottenham, with the Korean fans paying a premium to watch club and national hero, Son Heung-Min.
However, should it be at the expense of local fans, who attend week in week out.
Exhibit A: Aston Villa owned by Wes Edens (V Sports).
The Aston Villa Supporters Trust, like many other fan led groups joining the FSA movement, #STOP EXPLOITING LOYALTY, after the clubs decision to push for double digit percentage increase on Premier League and Champions League ticket prices, simultaneously reducing concession discounts.
Comparing the highest priced cheapest adult season ticket amongst the 20 Premier League teams shows that 7 out of the top 10 are American owned teams.
The average season ticket price across the Premier League in 24/25 is £594 ($754USD), equating to £31 ($40 USD) per match, if divided by 19 league games (amount of games per season ticket may vary per club).
Looking at just the American owned clubs, the average season ticket price jumps to £654 ($830USD) or £34 ($44USD) per match, a 10% uplift on the 20 team average. If we remove Ipswich Town from the equation the average price per game increases a further 5%.
The average of arguably the biggest three American owned teams, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool, comes in at £865 ($1099USD) or £46 ($58USD) per match, a cost that is an astronomical 46% higher than the leagues average.
Whilst this is a high price to pay for match going fans it is significantly lower per game than the cheapest season tickets of affiliated NFL clubs in 2025.
Premier League vs NFL
Results below compare the six English teams whose owners also have a stake in NFL teams. The cheapest season ticket pricing for the NFL teams was sourced from official NFL partners Ticketmaster, Vivid Seats or Seat Geek.
On average the NFL season ticket is 164% higher per game than that of their counterpart English football team.
Leeds United and Birmingham City fans may want to close their eyes. The teams affiliated with their owners, Las Vegas Raiders and San Francisco 49ers with some of the highest ticket prices in the league. Both teams creating a lot of headlines in the US for the high price of their season tickets, which continue to rise.
One item to mention is that NFL season tickets often come with discounts on food and drink in the stadium and other perks related to merchandise.
The regular season NFL average attendance in 2024 was a whopping 69,520 people. It Is reported that about 30% of these tickets are sold on an individual basis using dynamic pricing, at an average of $120 USD.
The Premier League Summer Series which will take place in July 2025 will see Everton, Bournemouth, West Ham and Manchester United compete in a three city (New Jersey, Chicago and Atalanta) pre season tournament. The price per ticket varies from $50 USD to $450+ USD. This will get you access to two games back to back. The average price will likely fall into the $150 USD mark.
Looking through a pure commercial lens at the metrics on NFL ticket pricing and Premier League pre season tours you can see why wealthy owners / groups are pushing to get a regular competitive league fixture introduced into the US.
Premier League Power Shift
The Premier League Handbook, which serves as a contract between the League, the Member Clubs and defines the structure and running of the competition, states the following:
Clubs have the opportunity to propose new rules or amendments at the Shareholder meeting. Each Member Club is entitled to one vote and all rule changes and major commercial contracts require the support of at least a two-thirds vote, or 14 clubs, to be agreed.
14 clubs.
As mentioned, in the Premier League there is currently 11 clubs with some form of American ownership (if we include Manchester City). If the current league position across the top 3 leagues was to freeze today that number would rise to 12 next season. Ipswich relegated, Leeds United and Sheffield United automatically promoted. If for the purpose of this discussion the third place team wins the playoffs, Burnley, then the number rises to 13.
If we take the exercise one step further, if Birmingham City go on and make back-to-back promotions, and the 13 teams remain in the Premier League we hit 14 American owned or heavily influenced clubs in the Premier League in 2 years time.
Combine 14 clubs with FIFA’s U-turn on location of domestic matches the Relevent media and commercial deals, the lucrative NBC deal and we end up with a major US power shift potentially controlling the decisions of the Premier League.
A power that could potential introduce competitive league fixtures played in the USA, an aligned push for NFL styles dynamic ticket pricing, reduced quantity of season tickets, removal of concessions and the elephant in the room, a European breakaway league.
Local fans and fan groups once again the last line of defence against stopping their clubs if they choose to break tradition in exchange for increased revenue.
The issues discussed above are clearly not all associated with just American owned clubs. American investment in English football can provide a life line to many clubs, but how much is enough and should increased revenue be prioritised over culture and tradition? Time will tell.
Thank you for reading.
The Pitch Inspection
The Pitch Inspection was founded by football fans Kevin Scott and brother Russell Scott, an investigative journalist whose work is regularly published in the national press.
Mark Green is the minority owner (24.99%) Cambridge United. Washington State-based but Cambridge born (and life long supporter of The Mighty Us), Paul Barry is actually the majority owner, owning the remaining 75.01%.
A brilliant educational read. I really appreciate the detail you guys go into in shining a light on the mechanics of the football industry. Keep up the great work!