Retired athletes investing in professional sports teams has become a trend. Earlier, they used to funnel their wealth into real estate or restaurant chains. But now, many are turning to team ownership. American actors are also jumping in.
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Interestingly, the trend extends beyond U.S. borders, with celebrities increasingly looking to Europe for investment opportunities in sports. Tom Brady has taken a stake in the English soccer club, Birmingham City. JJ Watt owns a portion of another soccer club, Burnley F.C., and actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have famously revived Wrexham F.C.
Brady also became a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders after navigating a series of hurdles. And now, it seems two more retired New England Patriots legends are looking to follow in his footsteps. Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski are eyeing opportunities to buy sports teams in Europe, inspired by Brady and Watt.
However, Gronk appears more interested in owning a flag football team. His limited knowledge of soccer and how European leagues operate may have influenced his decision to stick with something more familiar.
Gronkowski also sees serious potential in the future of flag football. Edelman took the idea a step further, suggesting they start their own flag football league based on the European model of promotion and relegation.
” Tom owns a team, JJ Watt owns a team, how come we don’t own a team? It can’t be that expensive. Maybe we should make a flag football league like this, where you could get relegated, and you could create a team, a club team, and that club team will have like divisions, and we’ll relegate and promote teams. We’ll do a flag football league,” said Edelman.
But that ambition was short-lived. The plan was scrapped after Edelman realized that such a league already exists.
Gronk then praised Reynolds and McElhenney for their efforts with Wrexham F.C., calling their journey inspiring. Since the Hollywood duo took over the club in 2020, Wrexham has seen a remarkable turnaround.
They’ve used their star power and investment to revitalize the club’s infrastructure — improving the stadium and training facilities — and reignite global interest in the team.
On the field, Wrexham achieved back-to-back promotion from the fifth tier to reach English Soccer’s League One last year after a 15-year absence. They continued their momentum and have earned a spot in the Championship next season.
Motivated by Wrexham’s story, Gronk proposed bringing the concept of promotion and relegation to American sports, starting with Major League Baseball. He believes MLB is the most logical place to test the model because its existing minor league system already features multiple competitive levels.
According to Gronk, the two worst-performing MLB teams should be relegated to AAA, the top tier of Minor League Baseball, while the two best AAA teams should move up.
He argues that this would raise the level of competition and push struggling franchises to invest in talent and rebuild. Let’s face it, no one wants to watch the Oakland Athletics or Miami Marlins play right now.
A relegation system in the NFL should perhaps be in the cards then. The two NFL stars did mull that.
Which NFL team should face relegation?
Since no American sports league — including the NFL — uses a system of relegation and promotion, some franchises have coasted along despite years of poor performance. Edelman believes that if such a system did exist, the New York Jets would be the first team to get relegated — and honestly, who could argue with him?
As a proud Patriot, Edelman has no love for the Jets. But beyond the rivalry, the Jets have simply been bad for too long. They’ve consistently finished near the bottom of the standings and haven’t made the playoffs in over a decade.
“I [have] got a question for you. This whole relegation/promotion thing, what NFL team should get relegated, and why is it the Jets? said Edelman.
Gronkowski initially had a different take. The Jets, he said, weren’t even relevant during his time in the league. Instead, he singled out the Indianapolis Colts as a more fitting candidate for relegation.
However, Edelman quickly brought him around, and the two ultimately agreed: The Jets would be the first to go.
It raises an interesting question: Should the NFL consider adopting promotion and relegation to raise the stakes and boost competitiveness? It’s a radical idea, but one that could reshape the league and force perennial bottom-dwellers to finally turn things around.
