Ah, the beautiful game! Everybody wants a slice. With the World Cup final days away, spelling the return of the Premier League on the other end of Christmas, there truly is no escape from football mania.
Following in the footsteps of Drake, LeBron James, and even Ryan Reynolds, Michael B. Jordan is the latest American star to settle into an English footballing league, as he becomes a part owner of AFC Bournemouth.
With all of these Americans stepping foot in the Premier League, you'd think we might start seeing the back of the whole "soccer" thing, but apparently not. A tad too much to ask, eh?
Jokes aside, USMNT's participation in the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar showed there is a growing national pride in the sport, and with 2026 due to take place in the US, it's only set to intensify.
Although a correlation between the two may be unlikely, as American participation in football grows on a national level, its international presence through investment has also grown significantly over the last few years.
Much of this participation is massively frowned upon in the UK due to issues clubs such as Manchester United have faced under American ownership.
On the flip side, however, teams like Wales' Wrexham AFC have benefitted massively from American ownership byways of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, while Liverpool FC has welcomed the further international recognition that LeBron James' minority stake and ambassadorship have brought.
Drake has also found himself aligned with LeBron through football, thanks to their investment firms' huge pump into AC Milan. Now, Michael B. Jordan is joining this growing alumnus as a consortium he is a part of has bought a minority stake of 49.9% in AFC Bournemouth.
With Manchester City and Newcastle United enjoying huge purchasing power under Saudi ownership, and Liverpool likely following suit, more clubs with less purchasing power will likely begin clambering from American investment to help boost their chances of success against the league's super teams.
What that will mean for AFC Bournemouth, and its placement on league tables going forward is yet to be seen.
