Another North American celebrity is set to splash some cash in the English Football League (EFL), according to multiple UK media reports.
Rap star A$AP Rocky is reportedly set to buy a majority stake in Tranmere Rovers, a League Two (fourth tier) team based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, a town on the opposite side of the river Mersey from Liverpool.
Tranmere Rovers have refused media requests for comment. However, circulating reports assert that Rocky, real name Rakim Mayers, is in advanced talks to acquire 80% of the team, worth £15m.
This change in ownership would likely result in a massive increase in cash injection into Tranmere Rovers, which has never competed in the top flight of English football in its entire history.
New York City-born A$AP Rocky has an estimated net worth of $20m, a fortune accumulated across three chart-topping albums starting with ‘Long. Live. A$AP’ in 2013 and with a fourth album scheduled for later this year.
Why Tranmere Rovers?
Tranmere’s highest-ever league finish came during the 1992/93 season, when it finished in fourth place in the First Division, now the EFL Championship, losing its match in the play-off semi-finals.
The club subsequently came fifth in the two following seasons, losing in the play-off semi-finals again. These three years marked the closest Tranmere has ever been to competing in the Premier League. The team has never won the FA Cup, though its best League Cup run saw it reach the final in 2000, losing 2-1 to Leicester City.
So why is A$AP Rocky, a multimillionaire US rapper, interested in buying a League Two football club in Northwest England?
Unsurprisingly, many comparisons have been drawn to the takeover of Wrexham AFC in 2020 by Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds and American actor Rob McElhenney. At the time of the takeover, the club was competing in the National League, the fifth tier of English football.
The years since have seen the club’s visibility explode, driven by extensive publicity around acting duo Reynolds and McElhenney’s takeover and subsequent governance. The docuseries ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ was invaluable to this, cultivating a growing global following.
Four years after the takeover, Wrexham is playing in League One, two divisions above the National League, in addition to courting sponsorship interest from companies which would usually be unheard of in the lower divisions of English football, like Gatorade and United Airlines.
British media reports suggest that A$AP Rocky would like to see a similar docuseries made about his potential – and important to empathise, rumoured – takeover of Tranmere. The rapper hopes that a similar series would generate similar public and commercial interest in the Rovers.
The main conclusion we can take from these rumours is that English football is viewed as a valuable investment by a range of stakeholders. Gaining a foothold in the Premier League, the world’s third most valuable sports league after the NFL and NBA, will be the ultimate goal.
Though this destination is still a long way away for the likes of Wrexham and Tranmere, the cash generated along the way through direct investments, media and sponsorship deals is an undeniable game-changer for these lower-league teams’ fortunes and prospects.
