Drake, Durant Continue Euro Soccer Ownership Trend for U.S. Celebrities

The growing trend of U.S. celebrities buying stakes in European soccer teams received a major boost this week from two of the biggest names in sports and entertainment.

Fresh off his Olympic gold-medal performance with Team USA, Suns superstar Kevin Durant (above) purchased a stake in French powerhouse Paris Saint-Germain, and rap phenom Drake became an investor in Venezia FC, which was just promoted to Italy’s top division. Both celebrities invested in their respective teams through private equity firms that already have stakes in the clubs.

Durant and Drake join a long list of other athletes, entertainers, and actors who have ownership stakes in soccer clubs across the pond, including household names like LeBron James (Liverpool owner Fenway Sports Group), Tom Brady (Birmingham City), and, of course, Wrexham owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.

French Connection

Durant’s company, Boardroom Sports Holdings, bought an undisclosed portion of the 12.5% stake in PSG that Arctos Partners acquired in December. That transaction valued the soccer club at roughly $4.6 billion at the time. Arctos also has stakes in franchises across the NBA, NHL, and MLB. 

This is Durant’s third minority ownership stake of a soccer team, following previous investments in the Philadelphia Union (MLS) and NJ/NY Gotham FC (NWSL). He’s also a co-owner of a Major League Pickleball club.

The PSG deal puts Durant in business with club majority owner Qatar Sports Investments—the entity controlled by the Middle Eastern country’s sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority. That last year, QIA paid $200 million for a 5% stake in Monumental Sports & Entertainment, the parent company of the Washington Wizards and Capitals.

Musical Chairs

Drake acquired his stake in Venezia by joining Apex Capital, which purchased a minority stake in the club last month. In addition to the investment, the rapper’s apparel company Nocta, which is a sub-brand of Nike, is becoming Venezia’s uniform provider. Apex also has investments in the Alpine Formula 1 team and the Tiger Woods–back TGL golf league.

Meanwhile, Drake’s chief brand officer, Matte Babel, told GQ Italia that before the investment was made, the rapper and his team helped Venezia raise more than $40 million to avoid bankruptcy before earning promotion to Serie A. 

Drake and James are also passive investors in AC Milan through their partner fund, Main Street Advisors, which has a minority stake in the Italian soccer giant owned by RedBird Capital Partners.

Editors’ note: RedBird IMI, of which RedBird Capital Partners is a joint venture partner, is an investor in Front Office Sports.