LeBron James was way ahead of the curve.
The four-time NBA champion and all-time leading scorer blazed a lucrative trail in 2011 that the likes of Ryan Reynolds, Tom Brady, and J.J Watt have all since trodden.
Liverpool FC was sold to American John W. Henry’s Fenway Sports Group (FSG) in 2010 for $478 million (£300m).
James, a reported billionaire with over $479 million (£363m) in career earnings, jumped on board a year later with $6.5 million (£4.9m) worth of investment for a two per cent ownership stake in the historic club.
In 2021, LeBron converted his stake in Liverpool to a one per cent share in FSG’s global empire, following the Reds’ 2019 Champions League victory and Premier League title a year later.
It made James and his long-standing business manager Maverick Carter co-owners in FSG’s Boston Red Sox (MLB) and Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL).
Liverpool also produced a line of official LeBron merchandise — an LFC X LeBron collection featuring footwear and apparel — putting the respected James brand in front of new eyes in previously untapped locations.
It was a business relationship best described as mutually beneficial.
On the pitch, Liverpool experienced one of their most successful periods in decades with Jurgen Klopp at the helm.
Off it, the six-time European Cup winners became the the fourth most valuable soccer team in the world ($5.37b, £4.07b) in 2024, according to Forbes, trailing only Real Madrid ($6.6b, £5b), Manchester United ($6.55b, £4.9b) and Barcelona ($5.6b, £4.2b).
James, meanwhile, turned an initial $6.5 million (£4.9m) investment in Liverpool into a one per cent stake in $10 billion (£7.5b) valued FSG, a stake that could be worth up to $100 million (£75m) for the Los Angeles Lakers star.
The King was winning on and off the court and his involvement in English football created a domino-like effect for equally hungry American athletes-turned-entrepreneurs wanting a slice of the pie.
Acting pair Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, of Deadpool and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia fame, turned their gaze to an industrial and market hub in the North of Wales.
The R.R. McReynolds Company, LLC bought relative minnows Wrexham for $2.5 million (£2m) in February 2021.
The Red Dragons are now worth around $11.8 million (£9m) and have enjoyed back-to-back promotions to League One while increasingly endearing themselves to the moneymaking North American market through an Emmy-nominated Disney+ documentary ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ and Reynolds’ ridiculous marketability.
NFL legend J.J. Watt and his wife, former United States international soccer player Kealia Watt, followed suit by purchasing a minority stake in Burnley in 2023.
Their exact percentage and how much they paid remains unknown, but 84 per cent of Burnley is owned by the American firm ALK Capital through several subsidiaries, while the other 16 per cent belongs to individual shareholders like the Watts.
Seven-time Super Bowl champion and entrepreneur Tom Brady jumped on the bandwagon last year, too, becoming a minority owner of Birmingham City.
The NFL great entered a partnership with Knighthead Capital Management and owns 3.3 per cent of the club, which was recently relegated to the third tier of English football.
The New England Patriots icon sits on the club’s advisory board as chairman, a role that includes working on new commercial partnership opportunities and collaborating with the sports science department “to advise on health, nutrition, wellness, and recovery systems and programs.”
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