This year, 49ers Enterprises will be in charge of not one, but two European soccer teams playing in their country’s top flight.
Having acquired managing control over Leeds United in 2023, the 49ers ownership group recently steered the club out of the Championship, England’s second-tier professional league, and back into the English Premier League.
Now competing against some of the best clubs in the world, Leeds is planning a massive, $200-million expansion to its 128-year-old stadium at Elland Road that will increase seating capacity from 37,645 to at least 53,000.
“We did it at the 49ers over the last 15 years with Levi’s Stadium and building back the football side,” Paraag Marathe told Sportico in May. “Now it’s an opportunity to run it back with Leeds.”
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND – AUGUST 31: Paraag Marathe, Vice Chairman of Rangers looks on prior to the Premier League match between Rangers and Celtic at Ibrox Stadium on August 31, 2025 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
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Marathe is an important 49ers figure these days. He currently has four titles: vice president of football operations for the 49ers, president of 49ers Enterprises, chairman of Leeds United and vice chairman of Rangers FC.
He could fly to England and visit Leeds, then take the 250-mile trip north to Glasgow, where the 49ers owners are entering their first season in charge of Rangers FC.
One of the most storied franchises in the Scottish Premiership, Rangers has won the league a record 55 times. The club finished second last season, but in May it was announced that 49ers Enterprises were acquiring a majority stake (51 percent) of the club. Changes have been made, including the hiring of a new manager and the acquisition of several young players to replace some club veterans.
Let’s pause there, because surely, casual 49ers fans are now wondering why they should care about a soccer team in Glasgow.
Here’s why: As the dynamics of sport have quickly shifted to incorporate a global audience, it’s becoming increasingly common for NFL owners to have their hands in other professional sports leagues.
Last year, the NFL made it easier than ever by announcing a change to ownership rules: Private equity firms are now allowed to purchase minority stakes in NFL teams.
Players of Leeds United pose for a photo with the Sky Bet Championship trophy, after the teams 2-1 victory, which confirmed that the team has won the Sky Bet Championship and promotion to the Premier League following the Sky Bet Championship match between Plymouth Argyle FC and Leeds United FC at Home Park on May 03, 2025 in Plymouth, England. (Photo by Harry Trump/Getty Images)
That means that an NFL owner can sell parts of the team to these firms without losing managing control, “essentially giving the majority partner liquidity to invest in other sports franchises around the world,” said Marty Greenberg, a former sports agent and the founder of the National Sports Law Institute at Marquette University. “That’s an important change.”
Soon, the term “multi-club ownership,” or “MCO,” will be part of the mainstream language in sports.
As of this summer, there were already seven NFL owners who own EPL teams.
Stan Kroenke, who owns the Los Angeles Rams, owns Arsenal; Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan also owns Fulham FC; the Glazer family owns the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as well as Manchester United; Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris has an ownership stake in Crystal Palace, though New York Jets owner Woody Johnson just recently acquired managing control of the EPL club; and 49ers Enterprises owns Leeds.
Owners of MLB, NBA and NHL teams also own teams in the EPL, where nearly half of the teams are owned by Americans.
Wes Edens, owner of the Milwaukee Bucks, also owns Aston Villa. Bill Foley owns the Las Vegas Golden Knights and AFC Bournemouth. Fenway Sports Group owns the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool FC.
FILE – Liverpool’s Diogo Jota reacts during the English Premier League soccer match between Chelsea and Liverpool at Stamford Bridge stadium in London, Sunday, May 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)
It doesn’t end there: Several of these owners also own additional soccer clubs throughout Europe, Africa, Asia, South America and even the United States.
Think of it as a tree, where the trunk of the tree is the ownership group, and the biggest branches are their American professional sports franchises or top-tier European soccer clubs, with smaller branches that include second- and third-tier soccer clubs stationed all over the world.
The result: distinct competitive advantages.
At least, that’s what the owners are hoping for.
They can save money on back-office staff. They can share intellectual property. They can discuss marketing and sales strategies. Successful business partnerships can cross over. Player development techniques can be utilized.
And in world football, “it enables owners and football groups to have greater control over the player market,” said Mark Ogden, a senior writer at ESPN who covers soccer in the United Kingdom. “Clubs and owners now add additional clubs in different regions in order to have greater access and control of the local market.”
For example, scouting and developing a teenage soccer player in West Africa is a lot easier to do if you own a team in West Africa, which is exactly what the owners of Los Angeles FC realized. They now own soccer teams all over the world, often trading players within their own club network.
“Through the club network, you’re achieving two things,” Tim Bezbatchenko, a longtime MLS executive who now oversees AFC Bournemouth in the EPL, said on The Athletic FC podcast. “One, you’re controlling your (player) supply. Two, there’s cost and risk mitigation.”
Perhaps it sounds a bit like owners are cheating the system. How is this allowed?
Well, it’s all still fairly new, and sports leagues are trying to figure out the best way to regulate it while still supporting the enormous financial investments that come with having billionaire owners funnelling cash into their leagues.
There is one particular rule that is causing some owners trouble: An owner cannot have influence over two clubs involved in the same competition.
San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa (97) runs down the field with the ball during the second half of an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
This makes sense of course; an NFL owner couldn’t own two NFL teams
But the difference in world football is that top-finishers in domestic leagues will move on to face teams from other leagues in more lucrative tournaments, most notably the Champions League.
This has come back to bite a few ownership groups. In this summer’s Club World Cup, Liga MX’s Club León was banned from the competition due to an ownership conflict with another Mexican club, Pachuca.
So what will happen to the 49ers ownership group if Rangers FC and Leeds United qualify for the same competition?
Marathe told reporters in Europe that a “plan is in place” to solve that problem, should it arise.
But this is only the beginning of the centralization of ownership in world sports.
In 2012, the Union of European Football Associations estimated there were 40 clubs that were part of a multi-ownership structure. By 2023, there were 180.
Today, there’s an estimated 350, with that number growing by the day.
Some fans are protesting. Fans of Dutch club NAC Breda successfully fought against Manchester City taking control of their club in 2022 “because they did not want their club to lose their identity or become a factory for loan players,” The Guardian wrote at the time.
“As for Leeds, Rangers and the 49ers, right now, both fan groups appear to welcome the investment and ownership due to each team having a recent turbulent past,” Ogden said. “But if they both return to former levels and potentially face each other in European football, then there will come a crunch because one club will ultimately be prioritized.”
One thing is for sure: Mutli-club ownership, when done right, is providing an opportunity to multiply the value of some franchises.
Red Sox owners Fenway Sports Group bought Liverpool FC in 2010 for a reported price of £300 million ($450 at the time); today, the club is valued at £4 billion, or $5.4 million.
LEEDS, ENGLAND – APRIL 28: Paraag Marathe, Chairman of Leeds United, (L), interacts with a fan prior to the Sky Bet Championship match between Leeds United FC and Bristol City FC at Elland Road on April 28, 2025 in Leeds, England. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)
“We view it as three uncut diamonds,” Marathe told Sportico in May. “We’ve polished up the 49ers, and now on the path to doing it with Leeds, and there’s another opportunity there with Rangers.
“We’re just starting to scratch the surface of what we can do. It’s not just about making money for making money’s sake. It’s about making money to spend it on players and get better. This will never be a dividend game.”