The Yanks are coming! Football’s US takeover

English football has been obsessed with conquering America for decades, making it somewhat ironic that the invasion is now happening in reverse.

Most of the clubs celebrating success at the end of this season have majority American owners, with more US investors buying into English football every year.

Beyond the headline act of Fenway Sports Group’s Liverpool winning the Premier League, American success is cascading down the pyramid, with all clubs in the EFL feeling some benefit.

“We’re making more money from the US market than France or Italy,” says the EFL’s chief commercial officer, Ben Wright. Most of that income is the result of a record four-year TV contract which saw CBS Sports broadcast eight live matches each weekend from this season, with every game available to stream on Paramount+.

The success of US-owned clubs this season completes the virtuous circle. All four clubs promoted automatically from the Championship and League One – Leeds and Burnley, and Birmingham and Wrexham respectively – are American owned, while both League One play-off finalists, Charlton and Leyton Orient, have American investors. And yesterday’s Championship play-off losers Sheffield United are fully owned by Americans following a 100% purchase of the club last December by the COH Sports consortium led by Steven Rosen and Helmy Eltoukhy.

Much of this apparent dominance is down to a numbers game, with 22 of this season’s EFL clubs now in American hands following takeovers in the last six months at Sheffield United, Swansea, Leyton Orient and Reading.

Unfashionable Millwall kick-started the trend when the late John Berylson bought the then League One club for just £5million in 2007, and it has accelerated dramatically in recent years. There have been 20 US-led takeovers at EFL clubs in the last five years, including existing American owners at Millwall, Swansea, Wycombe and Orient selling them on to compatriots.

Shaun Harvey, who was chief executive of the EFL for eight years before joining the Wrexham board as an adviser to owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney when they were still in the National League four years ago, is well placed to explain the sudden stampede from new American owners.

“People talk about the Wrexham effect, but the huge increase in ownership is down to the point of entry,” said Harvey. “Owning a US sports franchise is restricted to multi-billionaires these days, and it’s the same with Premier League clubs. But there is a large raft of multi-millionaires who can afford to buy into EFL clubs, and they are increasingly doing so.

“Rather than buy a museum or art gallery in their home towns, many are looking at buying English football clubs. It ticks similar boxes regarding philanthropy and a sense of community but also provides and adventure and gives them something they can really enjoy.”

With owners from 12 different countries and players of 62 differing nationalities having played matches this season, the Premier League is viewed as the global league, but Plymouth owner Simon Hallett believes there is a real opportunity for the EFL to promote itself as the league of America. Although born in Bristol, Hallett has had US citizenship since 2003, and bought a controlling interest in Plymouth seven years ago following a successful career in asset management.

“I think people massively underestimate the interest in soccer in the USA,” he says. “It’s the second biggest sport in terms of participation, and it’s only going to grow. And there’s huge interest beyond the Premier League.

“The opportunity for the EFL is phenomenal, as there’s nothing like the play-offs. Americans are not used to the jeopardy of promotion and relegation, and the opportunities it creates for drama and storytelling are tremendous.

“I was talking to our assistant coach at Plymouth, Adin Osmanbašić, and he said, ‘People in America just do not care as much about Major League Soccer as they do about their EFL clubs. The MLS is far less intense.’

“Wrexham have penetrated popular culture in the United States. Everywhere you go now, you see Wrexham shirts, but they were pushing at an open door. I was on a United Airlines flight recently with Wrexham branding. Even my removal man in Devon asked if I was a Wrexham fan!

“There’s a belief among the US owners that we could be far more aggressive in our marketing. The NFL are absolutely relentless in promoting the NFL – not the individual franchises – and the EFL should do the same. They should triple their marketing budget.”

New Orleans-based lawyer Rob Couhig, who earlier this month finally completed the £25m purchase of Reading from Chinese businessman Dai Yongge having previously owned Wycombe Wanderers for four years, has similar views, particularly regarding the unique appeal of promotion and relegation.