Weekly Column: From Player to Owner

In this week’s column, California Sports Lawyer® CEO and Managing Attorney Jeremy M. Evans examines the growing trend of professional athletes moving from the playing field into ownership roles, and the legal and business implications of that shift across major sports leagues.

The billion dollar valuations of many professional sports franchises has almost guaranteed the need for more investment to spread the dollars across people and entities.

You can read the full column below. (Past columns can be found, here).

There is an athlete team ownership trend and it did not start with Tom Brady and the Las Vegas Raiders. Professional athletes, while playing and in retirement, are becoming investors and owners off-the-field. Former Seattle Seahawk defensive standout Bobby Wagner joined the ownership group of a WNBA franchise in 2025. The list does not end there: athletes who are now team owners include, as mentioned, Tom Brady (Las Vegas Raiders – NFL; Las Vegas Aces – WNBA; Birmingham City – EFL Championship), Serena Williams (Miami Dolphins – NFL; Angel City FC – NWSL), LeBron James (Liverpool FC – English Premier League), Dwyane Wade (Utah Jazz – NBA; Chicago Sky – WNBA), Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Dodgers – MLB; Los Angeles FC – MLS; Washington Commanders – NFL), Alex Rodriguez (Minnesota Timberwolves – NBA; Minnesota Lynx – WNBA), David Beckham (Inter Miami CF – MLS), Patrick Mahomes (Kansas City Royals – MLB; Sporting Kansas City – MLS; Kansas City Current – NWSL), Russell Wilson (Seattle Sounders FC – MLS), Marshawn Lynch (Seattle Kraken – NHL), Kevin Durant (Philadelphia Union – MLS), Naomi Osaka (North Carolina Courage – NWSL), and Alex Morgan (San Diego Wave FC – NWSL).

The shift in player ownership is simple and somewhat complicated. It is simple because athletes are making more money now in salary in endorsements than ever before. Secondly, sports ownership is attracting and seeking new classes of investors and retired athletes. Sports team ownership has shifted from trophy asset to lucrative investment and leagues have changed the rules to allowed smaller private equity stakes. The billion dollar valuations of many professional sports franchises has almost guaranteed the need for more investment to spread the dollars across people and entities. There are only so many billionaires who are afford to buy a professional sports franchise and they have to be interested, which limits the pool of candidates.

Investment by current players, announcers, or individuals or entities with potential conflicts of interest is not without concern and is always in need of disclosure and preparation. Athletes playing currently are almost always prevented from ownership in the current league and with their team. Retired athletes would have to be shielded from certain ownership and league meetings if there is a dual role in commentary or journalism for a network or media. Owners in general are prevented from having ownership stakes in multiple teams within the same league. All these rules and policies prevent even disclosed conflicts of interest and allow for more parity, fairness, and honesty. There have been examples in Major League Soccer (a growing league) where superstars like David Beckham and Lionel Messi have or will receive ownership stakes in MLS teams after retiring, which was a contractual provision to get the player to sign with the team from an overseas market.

Private capital is reshaping how sports assets are viewed and utilized. Minority stakes in teams are more common place where franchise values have skyrocketed, while current and retired athletes have more wealth to invest than ever before. It makes sense that athletes would be interested in investing in sports franchises as their careers are spent playing for them. The assets are profitable and familiar, which makes the investment that much greater in focus.

About Jeremy M. Evans:

Jeremy M. Evans is the Chief Entrepreneur Officer, Founder & Managing Attorney at California Sports Lawyer®, representing entertainment, media, and sports clients in contractual, intellectual property, and dealmaking matters. An award-winning attorney and industry leader, Evans is based in Los Angeles and Newport Beach, California. He can be reached at Jeremy@CSLlegal.com. www.CSLlegal.com.