Celebrity World Cup? 5 stars who splurged on football clubs, from Ryan Reynolds’ docuseries on Wrexham FC and Elton John’s multimillion-dollar Watford FC deal, to Natalie Portman buying Angel City FC
- The Fifa World Cup 2022 saw A-listers cheering for their fave teams, but Hollywood actors Matthew McConaughey and Will Ferrell went a step further by investing in clubs climbing the Major League
- Valued at more than US$100 million, Angel City FC is the largest female-led group in professional sports, with Natalie Portman, Serena Williams and Jessica Chastain as main investors
But some of these A-listers have gone beyond wearing their favourite teams’ jerseys and have even bought whole football clubs for millions of dollars.
Here are five stars who own million-dollar football clubs with a dream to bring them to the top …
1. Matthew McConaughey – Austin FC
Matthew McConaughey, the Oscar-winning star who starred in major box office hits like Interstellar and Wolf of Wall Street, became interested in football after he met his Brazilian wife, Camila Alves, says Foxsports, and it led him to invest in the Texas football team, Austin FC, in 2019, per Sports Promedia.
It’s not specified exactly how much McConaughey spent for the investment, but the team is said to be valued at US$575 million, per Statista.com. The team kicked off its career in 2021 with a slow start, but things ramped up in 2022 when it became the club that achieved the second-most goals in the Major League, per the club’s website.
McConaughey also made headlines when he hyped up the fans and the Austin FC’s players during one of their MLS (Major League Soccer) Championship games by mimicking the iconic song his character did in Martin Scorsese’s hit movie The Wolf of Wall Street.
The cheer apparently worked, as Austin FC ended up making the biggest win in its professional career yet, says Talksport. But McCanoughey plans to go much further than just cheering for them. He has huge plans for the team and is focusing on making Austin FC a “legacy”, as per USA Today.