Why America’s A-listers are making big bets on soccer

Soccer is the hottest new investment for America’s A-listers like Ryan Reynolds.

Transcript

00:00Ryan and Rob, how would you sum up that experience tonight?

00:03I'm not sure I can actually process what happened tonight.

00:07In 2021, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney bought the Welsh football team Wrexham AFC

00:13for some $2.5 million.

00:15It's an underdog story and it's about interconnectivity between the club and the community.

00:20Just three years later, the Wrexham team is worth about $11 million, a more than four-fold

00:25increase.

00:26They're part of a growing group of A-listers to throw their support behind European football

00:31leagues.

00:33From celebrities to venture capitalists, investors are spending millions to tap into the next

00:38sports gold rush — soccer teams.

00:41I'm involved in sports ownership.

00:43There's a soccer club in the UK I'm a part of.

00:45Unlike other professional sports investments, soccer teams can have a much lower barrier

00:50to entry, with the opportunity for bigger returns later down the road.

00:54But it's not just in Europe.

00:57The world's game has really gotten a foothold in America.

01:02But there are risks.

01:03It takes almost as much work and money to have a team that doesn't perform as much as

01:06it does to have a team that does perform.