To make money.
With most US investors in English football keeping a low profile and attending few matches, the motive seems to be financial rather than reputational.
While former American owners of Sunderland, Swansea and Aston Villa have lost significant amounts of money after getting involved in English football, others have been a lot more successful.
Although they are despised by many United fans, the Glazers have profited hugely from their ownership of the club, through dividends and the sale of shares that have grown in value, with Sir Jim Ratcliffe spending £1.25bn on a 28% stake last year.
Despite their worst season in decades, and hundreds of millions of pounds of financial losses, United were recently rated the second most valuable club in the world, external at $6bn (£4.4bn).
With closed leagues, there are few opportunities to invest in US pro sports, and when they arise it is very expensive, so the global game of football is an attractive option, especially with NBC’s coverage of the Premier League, the Welcome to Wrexham documentary series and the Ted Lasso TV show fuelling interest.
Investors will also be banking on Lionel Messi’s participation in the MLS and the USA’s hosting of this year’s Club World Cup and the 2026 World Cup to help grow the game.
US investors also believe that more revenue can be extracted from English football, whether through media rights, ticketing or sponsorship.
As a minority investor in Burnley, former NFL star JJ Watt is among a number of US personalities to take a stake in British football clubs.
In March he told BBC Sport: “You look at an American football (NFL) club – right now they’re all valued at billions and billions of dollars.
“You come over here (to the UK) and the valuations are different and there’s more opportunity.
“I wanted to be involved, be in the board meetings, learn and grow, while also injecting something, bringing something to the club in terms of eyeballs to the game.
“Another thing that brings you to English football is the history, tradition, passion and supporters.”
According to sport finance expert Christina Philippou, US investors are also “bullish” about the potential of virtual reality technology when it comes to giving fans a match-going experience, without going to the stadium.
“Some are even confident that advancements in avatar technology could one day allow fans to watch live 3D simulations of Premier League matches in stadiums all over the world,” she wrote.
