Private Capital FC
US private capital investment in Europe’s biggest football teams puts a whole new spin on ‘club deal’. According to Pitchbook data, more than one-third of the 98 clubs it analyzed across Europe’s five biggest leagues have US minority or majority ownership, with private equity dollars accounting for 21 of those deals. US investors have shown their preferred colors in England, owning half of the English Premier League’s clubs; even Tom Brady, the NFL goat, has decided to wade in and invest in Birmingham City FC in the country’s second tier of football. Chelsea FC has been the biggest deal inked after Todd Boehly’s Clearlake Capital led a consortium to acquire the club last year for £4.25 billion. Sports team ownership is fast becoming the ultimate club deal.