A$AP Rocky Could Be Latest Celebrity Owner in English Soccer

A$AP Rocky has edged closer to joining the ranks of American celebrities owning lower-league English soccer teams after he was acquitted of felony assault charges in late February.

The 36-year-old rapper, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, is part of a consortium bidding to take an 80% stake in English League Two club side Tranmere Rovers alongside Joe Tacopina, the former attorney for Donald Trump and the attorney who successfully defended Rocky. 

Last week, a jury deliberated for just three hours before delivering a not-guilty verdict in a Los Angeles courtroom. The charges had stemmed from two 2021 felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm following an argument with a former friend.

The deal is now able to move toward completion having been held up for some five months.

Rocky, whose partner is Rihanna, the music icon turned billionaire fashion mogul, has been linked to the Tacopina-led bid to acquire a controlling stake in Tranmere since late 2024. Positive discussions were held last year with current owner Mark Palios, former CEO of the English Football Association, with Palios wanting a swift sale. The next step will be to seek approval from the FA and English Football League (EFL) over the deal.

Palios, a former professional soccer player who made more than 250 appearances for Tranmere across two spells in the 1970s and 1980s, has owned Rovers with his wife, Nicola, since acquiring the majority shareholding in 2014.

Back in October, Palios spoke on the potential acquisition of the club, confirming Tacopina’s interest and hinting at Rocky’s involvement, telling U.K. radio station talkSPORT: “At the end of the day, whether he brings A$AP Rocky in or not is down to him. It’s the type of thing I think would enhance his consortium because they can add value to the commercial side. A$AP’s (partner) is, of course, Rihanna.” In a subsequent interview with Sky Sports, Palios cryptically said he wanted the deal concluded “ASAP.”

Tacopina’s interest first came to light last April when he was spotted at a Tranmere game. He subsequently set up a holding company on the U.K.’s Companies House, registering TAC 1884 UK Limited, with reference to the year the club was founded, with Tacopina as the only director.

Should a takeover be completed as expected, Rocky would join a host of famous faces who have taken ownership stakes in English soccer teams.

Tacopina is no stranger to soccer, having been part of the U.S. ownership group led by Thomas R. DiBenedetto that bought into Serie A side AS Roma in 2011. He went on to acquire majority stakes in Bologna and Venezia before divesting and taking control of his fourth Italian team, the Ferrara-based SPAL.

As president, however, Tacopina was handed a three-month suspension by the club for missing a tax payment last year, and SPAL was hit with a points deduction.

The EFL has strict guidelines around who is allowed to own its soccer teams and operates an Owners and Directors Test, where disqualifying events can occur for a range of things such as being found guilty of fraud, bankruptcy, or having an unspent conviction for any offense that resulted in a sentence of imprisonment of 12 months or more.

With Tacopina’s suspension having been long since served, Rocky’s heavy involvement in the proposed takeover of Tranmere would have been of particular interest to EFL chiefs, but his acquittal on both charges means both are now clear of the roadblocks that had been in place.

Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s 2020 acquisition of EFL side Wrexham is the most high profile of the celebrity-led deals. Reynolds and McElhenney have delivered success, too, with consecutive promotions. They’ve driven the team up from the National League to League One, two tiers below the English Premier League (EPL), with the team in the hunt for promotion to the Championship.

Others who have followed suit in England include NFL legend Tom Brady, who has a minority position in Birmingham City, and NBA star Larry Nance Jr., who has part-ownership of Leeds United, as does golfer Jordan Spieth.

A low cost of acquisition of teams outside of the Premier League has been an attractive proposition for U.S. investment. Like the rest of Europe, the U.K. has promotion and relegation in place, which while carrying plenty of risk offers investors with a willingness to spend the chance to realize returns in terms of team value upon exit. 

The vast majority of EFL teams are unprofitable, but Tranmere has been run well in recent years and isn’t burdened with high amounts of debt, something that will have added to the attractiveness of the deal.

Part of Tacopina’s investment thesis is to borrow some pages from the Reynolds and McElhenney playbook at Wrexham, which is to leverage star power to aid commercial success in a small town of approximately 16,000.

With Rocky on board, as well as the possibility to open up relationships with Rihanna and potentially partnerships with her Fenty fashion brand, not to mention the long list of celebrity contacts in Tacopina’s contacts book who he may be able to call on, the 58-year-old has grand plans for a football club that has long found itself in the shadows of its neighbors Everton and Liverpool.

There will be plenty of risk attached to a potential deal, however, with Tranmere having sacked boss Nigel Adkins on Tuesday in a bid to try to preserve its EFL status.

Rovers, a team formed back in 1884, sits 22nd out of 24 in League Two, just above the relegation zone, with the bottom two facing a drop out of the EFL and into the National League.