Big personalities, big bucks and bigger clicks, but do they really ‘get’ soccer? Pros and cons of Burnley’s J.J. Watt, Birmingham’s Tom Brady as owners in EFL

Let’s acknowledge something first: both of these teams were relegated last season. Birmingham went down. Burnely tried to play some good football in the Premier League – and earned a few admirers along the way – but were unable to compete at the highest level of English football. Neither side, when their big names investors were in place, enjoyed good seasons.

However, this year, they have retooled. Birmingham hired former Tottenham assistant Chris Davies, and are in fine form. The first-time manager has them up to second place in League 1 – narrowly above Wrexham – with a game in hand over league leaders Wycombe. There is a real chance that they could gain automatic promotion – or even win League One outright.

Burnley are looking similarly good. After Vincent Kompany left for Bayern Munich in one of the more surprising managerial moves in recent memory, Watt and the ownership group brought in an experienced Championship manager in Scott Parker. The former Fulham boss has Burnley in decent form, fourth in the Championship, and in contention for automatic promotion back to the Premier League. Sure, it took both of them a summer to retool, but the good times seem to be back at their respective grounds.

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  Con: Not ‘getting’ the sport

  Both Brady and Watt are former NFL players, destined for the Hall of Fame, who excelled at the absolute elite level of sport. They understand the dynamics of being part of a team, collectively working toward a goal, and winning cultures. The issue is, soccer – in this case, English football – is far removed from the NFL, especially at its lower leagues.

  At its best, it can be challenging to be an owner of a sport that you don’t quite understand in full.

  Fans often throw around the criticism that their owner is “not a football person.” And most of the time, that’s a bit of a lazy argument. A random human can know quite a lot about the game without having kicked a ball around professionally at some point (Jose Mourinho would like a word.) But coming from another sport altogether is far more divisive.

  Watt and Brady have been so focused on one universe for so long, that it is entirely fair to question their credibility to be front and center of a professional football club. Just because they’re famous sportspeople doesn’t mean they can make it work for any sport. There are plenty of examples of disastrous celebrity ownership. These guys would do well to avoid them.
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  Pro: Investment (a lot of it)

  If there is one thing that Watt knows, in particular, it’s that this investment has to be taken seriously – on multiple fronts. He explained as much to Forbes in an interview in early November: “The Burnley thing is such a passion project of mine. I’m all in on it, both from an on-the-pitch standpoint and off the pitch, the business side, long-term goals, short term…”

  And every move he has made so far has shown it. The former NFL star has been actively involved on all sides of the club. The money has been there in terms of transfers – €110 million before the 2023 season, a further €50m despite being relegated this campaign. He has also pushed for the raising of the profile of the women’s team (with his wife and co-investor Kealia, a former NWSL midfielder, playing no small part.)

  Brady, although he has a significantly smaller stake in Birmingham, has overseen a couple of shrewd decisions. While the move to hire Wayne Rooney was beyond disastrous, the appointment of Davies has been a masterstroke. They have been unafraid to show some mettle in the transfer market, too, with Jay Stansfield coming in for €18m – a hefty fee for a club of this size.

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  Con: Well… they’re American

  There’s a running joke in the Apple TV sitcom Ted Lasso in which the fans repeatedly use a very British pejorative term for the homey midwestern manager. Ted, the supporters of imaginary club AFC Richmond claim, is a “w*nker.” Coach Lasso, of course, doesn’t get it – and assumes it is a term of endearment.

  That is satire, of course, and good comedy. But there is undeniably a suspicious attitude towards America and soccer from many in the United Kingdom. Whether it be the rough go of things that Bob Bradley got, or the condescending interviews Jesse Marsch dealt with, England isn’t always the most hospitable place to those from a nation who commit the unspeakable crime of referring to the sport using a word – soccer – that the English made up at Oxford in the 1880s.

  Part of this, as the British might say, is “banter.” Still, there is a real skepticism of American ownership, celebrity or otherwise. One only has to look at the disdain Chelsea fans felt towards Todd Boehly, or the suspicion from Arsenal fans of the Kroenke family. Liverpool supporters are immensely fast to turn on Fenway Sports Group after a slow transfer window, too.

  Call it snobbery, but the UK has never taken to Americans in this sport. Watt and Brady would do well to be aware of that.
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  Pro: Clicks, views and shares

  Welcome to Wrexham has proved that, if nothing else, there is immense enthusiasm in the United States when it comes to celebrity ownership. The FX show has been popular among football fans and newcomers alike – and portrayed the plight of a small town club very effectively. Put simply: it’s good entertainment, buoyed by the two famous faces that run it.

  And for Burnley and Birmingham, the same is true (if not quite to the same extreme). The celebrity aspect can be a PR coup. Burnley sent two teams to TST, with Watt himself playing for the Northern English club (and breaking the Internet with one particularly interesting athletic feat.) Birmingham reported that their club had generated “17 billion positive media impressions” after Brady’s investment announcement. Suddenly, their name is in the wider footballing consciousness.

  To Americans they may inaccurately be “the team that Tom Brady owns.” But it’s a masterclass in brand building – especially for a team that is in the third tier of the football pyramid.

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  Con: Heightened attention

  And then, of course, there is the inverse. If you’ve got the big names as the commercial face of the club, you better not mess up the whole business part. Wrexham underwent a masterclass in this all, gaining consecutive promotions, and having themselves well positioned for a third. There’s a real chance they could be playing Premier League football within a few years.

  Birmingham, meanwhile, showed for a fair few months how to get it all wrong. Brady had little to no say in the appointment of Rooney as a full-time manager. But he was seemingly featured in every headline – as the Blues slipped from fifth to 20th in the Championship.

  A decision that he was not in the discussions in ended up being attached to the Hall of Fame quarterback. He backed it all up by doing some UK media this year, rolled out as the face of the club, where he spoke of his competitive disappointment, and promised that they would be back among the best soon. It was, effectively, good crisis management. But had things slipped again this season, then the Blues might have even more negative press.