15 celebrities who are owners of sports franchises

Reynolds has money in a lot of stuff. Not just an alcohol brand, a celebrity staple, but he’s also a shareholder in Mint Mobile and FuboTV. Deadpool also joined forces with Rob McElhenney of It’s Always Sunny fame to take over the lower-level football club Wrexham AFC. It’s paid off for the Welsh squad, who suddenly went from entirely unknown to one of the best-known clubs among Americans due to the Hulu series Welcome To Wrexham. Under their ownership, the club also got a crucial promotion into the English football league system.

Portman is an Oscar winner and will forever be a part of the Star Wars universe, even if the prequels aren’t exactly beloved. She’s also a co-owner and co-founder of a sports franchise. Portman is part of the consortium that was rewarded a Los Angeles-based franchise in the NWSL. Angel City FC debuted during the 2022 season.

Timberlake is the success story of the boy band era, having built a successful career as a solo artist and actor. He has parlayed that into more than being friends with Jimmy Fallon. Timberlake owns a stake in his hometown Memphis Grizzlies and can occasionally be seen courtside.

Crowe loves rugby, and he loves the South Sydney Rabbitohs. He lived many a dream when he became co-owner of his childhood club in 2006. There was talk a decade ago Crowe was going to sell his stake in the Rabbitohs, and there is still a report out there that he plans to after next season. Interestingly, two of Crowe’s cousins have captained New Zealand’s cricket team.

If you are a minor league or independent baseball team, you might want to ask Murray for a little cash. He’s been a part owner of multiple baseball teams in his life. Murray is most associated with the St. Paul Saints, the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate, but he’s also had a stake in the Charleston RiverDogs, the Hudson Valley Renegades, and a few more.

Bon Jovi is not currently invested in any sports franchise, but we want to include him anyway. That’s because he founded and was the primary owner of the Philadelphia Soul of the Arena Football League. They won an Arena Bowl in 2008, the year before the Arena Football League folded. The league returned, as did the Soul, but not with Bon Jovi. Hey, any excuse to talk about Arena Football or Bon Jovi? We’ll take it.

Ferrell made several sports movies and once memorably played for 10 different MLB teams during spring training in 2015. The following year, he was named one of the owners of the new MLS franchise Los Angeles FC. LAFC found success pretty quickly and won the MLS Cup in 2022, with Ferrell as one of the faces of the franchise alongside Magic Johnson and Mia Hamm. 

Like his buddy Richard Linklater, McConaughey is long associated with Austin, Texas. The actor has been a staple on the sidelines of Texas Longhorns football games, but he’s also a part owner of, yes, a soccer team. Specifically, Austin FC, an MLS side that debuted in the 2021 season.

It’s been a while since Jay-Z was a sports franchise stakeholder, but he’s one of the most famous examples, so we wanted to include him anyway. He invested a reported $1 million for his sliver of the New Jersey Nets in 2003. Jay-Z was part of moving the team to the Barclays Center and becoming the Brooklyn Nets. In 2013, the rapper and mogul sold his stake, as it was a conflict of interest with his Roc Nation Sports agency.

LeBron James may come and go, but Usher remains when it comes to the Cavaliers. While he isn’t as well known as other celebrity minority owners, Usher has had a piece of the Cavaliers franchise since 2005. That’s surely paid off, as the Cavs won the title in 2016 with Usher as one of the minority owners. That you can chalk up to LeBron.

Sir Elton has put his money where his fandom is as much as any celebrity ever. John grew up a fan of Watford FC, and he became the chairman and director of the club in 1976 while also putting a lot of his money into the club. During his time, Watford soared up the ladder of English football all the way to the top level. John sold the team in 1987 but repurchased it in 1997. In 2002, he stepped down as chairman and is no longer a majority shareholder but still has money invested in Watford.

Apparently, in 2009, they were handing out minority stakes in the Miami Dolphins like it was candy. That year, Anthony, Estefan, and Fergie became part owners of the Dolphins. Estefan (and her husband and fellow musician Emilio) are long associated with Miami and its Cuban community, but Anthony and Fergie are from New York and Los Angeles, respectively.

You may not think of auto racing as a team sport because races have individual winners, but teams are also involved. Letterman is one of the owners of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. The team has had a lot of success over the years, as two members of Letterman’s team have won the Indy 500 race, including Takuma Sato in 2020.

Surely, Wahlberg owns a piece of some Boston sports team, right? Nope! Since 2013, Wahlberg has been interested in…the Barbados Royals of the Caribbean Premier League, a cricket league. Yes, Wahlberg invested in a cricket team. He invested in the then-Barbados Tridents at the behest of his friend Ajmal Khan, who introduced him to the sport. Khan just so happened to be the chairman of the Tridents and the founder of the CPL in general.

We eschewed former athletes on this list, but Jordan supersedes sports as a celebrity. He’s an iconic pitchman, the face of many companies, and he starred in Space Jam . Plus, Jordan is significant in terms of this list. He is the only celebrity who is the majority owner of a sports franchise in one of the “big four” American sports leagues. While he is forever remembered as a Chicago Bull, Jordan has been an owner of the Charlotte Hornets since 2010. However, he did sell most of his stake in 2023, though Jordan remains a minority owner.