Aside from building a professional career in sports, the business and ownership of sports teams is also a lucrative way to expand profits. Several NBA stars, including LeBron James, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, and Hollywood celebrities, have dabbled their hands in gaining minority or majority stakes in sports teams’ ownership. Former Phoenix Suns player Rex Chapman recently elucidated about this lucrative opportunity in a podcast with the Le Batard & Friends Network, in MOCO- Episode 71: Icon Living. As Chapman explained this opportunity, he delved into how the ‘Gladiator’ star Russel Crowe turned the South Sydney Rabbitohs rugby team into an $85,000,000 franchise after purchasing it for just $3,000,000!
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Chapman believes several Hollywood A-list celebrities get into sports ownership to relive their dreams of playing the sport. Perhaps owning a sports team gives them the closest feeling to what it must be to be a renowned player for any fan-favorite franchise.
Former Phoenix Suns star Rex Chapman talks about sports team ownership by Hollywood stars
Apart from athletes, several TV and movie stars from Hollywood have started delving into the world of sports ownership. In a podcast episode about Natalie Portman and Russel Crowe buying sports teams, Rex Chapman discussed this new phenomenon in detail. In particular, Chapman was amazed by how Crowe bought his favorite rugby team, the South Sydney Rabbitohs, for $3,000,000 and transformed the face of the team with continuous success within ten years. Now, the team is valued at $85,000,000, a whopping 2733.3% increase in valuation!
“We recently had Natalie Portman, who owns Angel City F.C. out in LA, and Russel Crowe also. Both actors, Oscar winning actors, who have done crazy things in their lifetime. But when you sit and talk to them, Russel in particular, he bought his childhood favorite rugby team. He bought Rabbitoh for $3,000,000, Rabbitoh had sort of run it to the ground, and he bought it in the early 2000s for $3,000,000. And ten years later, they won the whole thing, and the franchise is worth $85,000,000!”
Substantiating Chapman’s words, a change of ownership to Russel Crowe brings fortunes for the team. The team changed from one of the worst-rated teams in the NRI to winning the Premiership in 2014 and runners-up in 2021. With such newfound successes, the team’s valuation increased by multiple percentages to $85,000,000.
Natalie Portman and Ryan Reynolds are the other two famous celebs dabbling with sports ownership
Ryan Reynolds and Natalie Portman are the two celebrities to have found recent success in sports ownership. Reynolds is a part owner of the British football team Wrexham A.F.C. Reynold’s acquisition recently gained popularity from the 2022 documentary series Welcome to Wrexham.
On the other hand, Natalie Portman owns Angel City FC, a Los Angeles-based women’s football team competing in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL). Additionally, two-thirds of the franchise’s owners are women, making it the largest female-led group in professional sports. In terms of their philosophy, Portman and Angel City aim to empower women athletes through sports and challenge the rather sexist industry norms.
