As the dust settles after the FIFA World Cup , soccer fans' attention turns to the start of Europe's domestic league seasons. The English Premier League by some distance the most popular soccer league in the world kicks off once again on August 21 with champions Arsenal launching their title defense. Growing American interest in the league is evident not just in broadcast viewing figures and social media hype but increasingly in boardrooms, too. English soccer clubs, or football clubs, per the sport's more common global name, have become hot commodities for ultra-rich and institutional ownership over the years. What began with the Glazer family's takeover of Manchester United in 2005 has proliferated to American control of 11 of the 20 current Premier League sides. Further down the pyramid league system, smaller clubs have also attracted the interest of American celebrities. From Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney's fairy tale acquisition of a fifth-tier Welsh team captured by the "Welcome to Wrexham" TV series in 2020, to Snoop Dogg's investment in second-division side Swansea City this year, the appetite for collaborations with U.S. pop culture figures is only growing. In October 2010, John W Henry's Fenway Sports Group saw an opportunity. They could rescue Liverpool Football Club from the brink of administration for a cut-price fee of 300 million. Almost 16 years later, the Boston-based group is poised to net an enormous return on investment after FSG confirmed it is in talks with a syndicate of investors, led by British-Indian entrepreneur Amit Bhatia, to offload a significant minority stake in the club. The deal is believed to value Liverpool at $6 billion and is the culmination of a remarkable turnaround effort that saw the club restored to its former glory, winning two Premier League trophies and one European Champions League title under FSG's tenure as its financial backer. It is the inefficiencies of British and European football clubs' day-to-day operations that particularly excite American businesspeople , sports finance analysts told CNBC. Clubs are traditionally run with fans in mind, and typically, most are loss-making entities. Revenue maximization has rarely been the priority of British teams . Just eight Premier League clubs reported an operating profit in the 2024/25 season, with the league racking up combined pre-tax losses of 948 million ($1.26 billion), according to Deloitte. Losses are partially driven by an inefficient system of income channels that new owners can optimize. But owners must be careful not to take commercialization too far, or risk alienating supporters, Deloitte warns. "Frustrations among this group at the top-end of the game are building and in future many more may decide to vote with their feet, and step away from the live game," the researchers wrote in its 2026 football finance review. Growing revenues do not necessarily translate into stellar returns for public shareholders, however, as the share prices of listed clubs Manchester United and Juventus highlight. Manchester United shares are up just 30% over the past five years and are yet to surpass 2018...
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