Introduction
Despite shifting regulations, increased government intervention and the inherent volatility of on‑pitch performance, US investors continue to see value in English football, and private equity interest remains strong.
This continued resilience is down to a combination of factors including media rights economics, comparative transatlantic valuations, non‑footballing revenue opportunities, and the scalability of multi‑club ownership models, all of which are more than familiar to US sports investors’ playbooks on the monetisation of how sports are consumed and the associated creation of value.
Why the US investor angle keeps strengthening
The increase of American audiences watching English Premier League football is undoubtedly a major factor.
Average US audiences per Premier League broadcast have more than trebled during the past decade. US television network NBC paid a reported $2.1billion to retain the US Premier League broadcasting rights through to end of the 2027/2028 season,[1] a figure which reflects that demand and also vastly outstrips values for any previous cycle. Crucially, for the first time ever, the value of the Premier League’s international broadcasting rights exceeded that of the domestic broadcasting rights for the 2025–28 cycle with the international rights reportedly being valued in the region of £6.5billion,[2] a signal of where future growth is likely to be found. Rising US viewership strengthens the pitch for US‑targeted sponsorships, content formats, and merchandising, reflecting a more sophisticated segmentation of audiences across platforms.
Club strategies increasingly emphasise commercial revenues, with analysis in Deloitte’s annual “Football Money League Report” highlighting this shift as clubs compensate for flatter domestic broadcasting rights values.[3] This is visible in premium front‑of‑shirt deals for leading Premier League clubs, commonly reported to be in the region of £40–£60m per season bracket,[4] and in the widening spectrum of sleeve and naming‑rights arrangements. The Manchester United–Snapdragon shirt sponsorship was widely reported to be around £60m per year, up from the prior £47m TeamViewer deal.[5]
For English clubs, the US is now a recognised market for growth in a practical sense with a number of clubs visiting for pre‑season tournaments, local partnerships, and time‑zone‑aware content strategies all benefitting from the deepening fanbase. As English clubs refine their US propositions, investors see a clear line of sight to returns that are less exposed to the vagaries of domestic fixtures and more aligned with scalable media and US style brand strategies.
Persistent undervaluation: an entry multiple that still makes sense
From a pure valuation perspective, English football clubs typically trade at much lower entry levels than US sport franchises and football teams are comparatively under‑represented at the very top of global sporting franchise value rankings. NFL franchises typically sit within a $5–10billion range[6] but by contrast, recent English club transactions evidence considerably lower entry points, some recent examples including Chelsea at a reported £2.5 billion[7] (for acquisition of full equity), Newcastle United at around £305 million,[8] and a minority investment in Manchester United at a c.£5 billion equity valuation.[9] These lower entry points endure even as global visibility, brand equity, and monetisation opportunities increase, and providing a compelling investment proposition.
US consumption patterns: exporting the “event” mentality
A crucial driver for US investors is their comfort with the US model of sports consumption, turning games into comprehensive entertainment experiences that command premium pricing and ancillary spend. US franchises often anchor “sports and entertainment districts” around venues, bundling retail, hospitality, and leisure to monetisation per visitor.[10] The cultural focus on spectacle is also instructive; high‑production formats, like the UFC’s investment in the Las Vegas Sphere,[11] demonstrate audience appetite for immersive presentation and fan experience.
Ticket prices often sit at a premium compared to general admission Premier League tickets, evidencing different consumer expectations and willingness to pay for bundled experiences. While concepts like personal seat licences can be contentious in the UK, reports that Manchester United considered such models in new‑stadium planning highlight ongoing experimentation at the interface of culture and monetisation.[12] The underlying point is that the ability to implement US sport approaches to premiumisation, content, and fan engagement can unlock incremental revenue without relying solely on match outcomes. This move is also crucial in embedding allegiance from fans on a 24/7/365 basis, not just during a season on match days.
The “All or Nothing” documentary format, which originated with NFL teams, has been successfully adapted by Premier League clubs, supporting the thesis that off‑pitch storytelling can amplify brand and revenue. Similarly, the Wrexham example shows the commercial upside from premium docuseries, with reports of roughly $3.2 million generated in its first season post‑US investment,[13] reinforcing the power of narrative when paired with access and a splash of Hollywood. Whilst there may be a saturation point looming for some “fly on the wall” sports documentary formats, the new age of direct-to-consumer broadcasting means that penetrating key target demographs and markets has been made considerably easier and more effective, further increasing and deepening relationships with fans.
Multi‑club ownership (MCO)
The rise of multi‑club ownership continues to shape strategy, with MCO groups proliferating globally and particularly prominent among US‑origin investors. As of 2024, UEFA’s benchmarking indicated about 342 clubs worldwide in MCOs, a dramatic increase from fewer than 60 in 2014, evidencing the institutionalisation of the model.[14] The same report stated 47 MCOs originating in the US and that around 17% of UEFA top‑division clubs had some form of cross‑investment relationship, underlining the breadth of networked ownership.
The investment logic is familiar to private equity: shared scouting, youth development, data infrastructures, and talent pathways can be pooled to improve sporting performance and financial outcomes across a portfolio. Regulatory friction is real, UEFA restricts clubs under common control from competing in the same European competition, and there have been some recent high-profile examples such as Nottingham Forest, Crystal Palace and Manchester United.
Nevertheless, for a US private equity investor there are clearly more pros than cons to the MCO model and its ability to achieve economies of scale and to hedge against poor performance (or worse, relegation) in any one league makes for a proposition which is exceptionally well suited to one of PE’s most typical investment theses.
Stadium and infrastructure modernisation: capex as a growth engine
Significant value lies in modern venues designed as multi‑purpose assets with rich hospitality, technology, and non‑football programming. This is something that US sports investors know and understand better than any other, and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is the perfect case study: planned from the outset to host NFL London Games, it anchors a calendar that extends well beyond football and attracts international visitors with a high per‑capita spend. In 2023, international NFL fans in London were estimated to spend around £329 per head during the NFL games,[15] highlighting the hospitality and retail uplift around such events. Spurs regularly host boxing and music concerts and reportedly have permission for up to 30 major non‑football events annually and extended the NFL partnership through 2030,[16] building dependable event‑driven revenue. The club also entered a 15‑year partnership for the F1 Drive experience and secured planning consent for a 180‑room hotel adjacent to the stadium, broadening asset utilisation.[17]
These moves reflect a wider trend identified in the 2026 Deloitte Money League commentary: with domestic TV values no longer increasing at their previous pace, clubs are prioritising alternative revenue channels, from hospitality to experiential products. Venue naming rights and precinct development can be particularly powerful where local planning permits, as shown by the growth of sponsor‑integrated stadium identities such as Everton’s arrangement with Hill Dickinson.
Leveraging the investment
Linked to all of the above arguments is a need for investment into fan engagement, technology, talent and infrastructure. Whilst the default presumption is that private equity will mean just that – equity investment – football clubs (in particular English football clubs) use a wide range of financing products, some uniquely specific to football such as the sale of player transfer receivables, in order to fund the operation and expansion of their businesses. Increasingly, the source of that financing has come from alternative lenders such as private debt funds, who have identified and shaped their proposition around the funding requirements of the beautiful game. One of the world’s largest private equity houses, Apollo, recently announced the launch of Apollo Sports Capital, a new $5bn platform targeting sports investments but which is reportedly intending have 75% allocation to sports debt opportunities.[18] With a now-well established football finance market in England, where some of the very largest player transfer receivables are created, this provides a further type of opportunity for US private equity to take advantage of.
Where to from here?
Whilst the advent of US private equity investment into English football is been continuing for well over a decade, the past few years has seen a significant intensification of the process, both in terms of values being paid but also the type, size and number of investors. Investment syndicates are no longer an unusual concept and indeed are increasingly the norm, one recent example being the minority (and then full) acquisition in 2023 of Leeds United FC by 49ers Enterprises, the investment arm of the NFL's San Francisco 49ers who counts celebrity backers like professional golfer Jordan Spieth as an investor.
With MCO structures continuing to flourish, at a time when investment quantums show no sign of decreasing, the private equity houses with the most substantial firepower (read: those originating from the US) will likely be best placed to win out in the race to own those football clubs which can deliver the greatest value (and one hopes, glory).
[1] (CNBC Sport) - AP: source: NBC keeps Premier League U.S. broadcast rights in $2.7B deal
[2] WinSportsOnline - Premier League Viewership Statistics
[3] Deloitte Money League - Deloitte: How did Premier League clubs perform?
[4] The Sponsor - Premier League fair market sponsorship values: Full table and year-on-year results - The Sponsor
[5] Score and Change - Overview of the 2024/2025 Premier League sponsors
[6] Statista - NFL franchise value by team 2025| Statista
[7] The Athletic - Does Chelsea being bought for £2.5bn make financial sense? - The Athletic
[8] BBC Newsnight - BBC Two - Newsnight, Newcastle United takeover: £305m Saudi Arabian-backed deal completed
[9] BBC Sport - Manchester United: Sir Jim Ratcliffe's £1.25bn deal for 27.7% stake is completed - BBC Sport
[10] Selbert Perkins - Entertainment Districts: The New American Neighborhoods - SPD - Selbert Perkins Design
[11] The Hollywood Reporter - Inside the UFC Noche Las Vegas Sphere Live Event Plans With Dana White
[12] BBC Sport Manchester United considering 'seat licences'
[13] Talisman Agency - A Hollywood Twist in Sports
[14] UEFA Benchmarking Report 2024 - The European Club Finance and Investment Landscape
[15] Price Bailey - How NFL London Games impact hospitality and retail economy
[16] The Athletic - Exploring Tottenham Hotspur’s finances - The Athletic
[17] Tottenham Hotspur Football Club - Financial results Tottenham Hotspur
[18] Apollo Global Management - Apollo Announces Launch of Apollo Sports CapitalApollo Global Management
