Explained: Why NFL legend JJ Watt & former USWNT star wife Kealia bought stake in Burnley – with American football icon a long way outside his ‘comfort zone’

The NFL legend is now one of several celebrity investors at British clubs – as he joins the likes of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, who are co-owners at Wrexham, and fellow American football icon Tom Brady, who is a board member at Birmingham, in a surprising enterprise.

Watt has told the Daily Mail of why, after hanging up his cleats in the United States, he took the bold step to head for Lancashire: “One of the reasons that I wanted to get involved with it was because I wanted to step outside of my comfort zone. Obviously I know a lot about American sports. And I wanted to really immerse myself in something new and force myself to learn and grow. And it's been all that and more. For me, having Burnley has been huge, because I get that high and low every week. Almost more nerve-wracking and more adrenaline [than playing] because I have no control over it every week. It truly is a massive passion of mine. I love every second of it.”

While stakeholders can often live life in the shadows at sporting institutions, Watt has made a point of embracing all things Burnley – as a regular at Turf Moor – and hopes to reward the support that he has received from a loyal fan base. He added: “It's a surreal moment standing on the pitch before the game, and my dad is holding my son and he's pointing out players on the football team that we are now minority owners of. That's a sentence that in my life, I don't think I ever could have conceptualized of a Premier League team. So it was a wild thing for me and just a really, really cool experience to share with them. A little kid from Pewaukee, Wisconsin all the way over here now, watching the Premier League games for the team that we're involved in. The culture is so cool, the people are great. The people of Burnley have been unbelievable. So really enjoying it over here.”

Burnley claimed the Championship title last season, giving Watt and Co plenty to cheer, but the Clarets have found the going tough in 2023-24 and have just nine games left in which to try and haul themselves out of the Premier League relegation zone and towards top-flight safety.