Golf star Rory McIlroy has expressed his interest in buying a stake in Manchester United, as soon as the opportunity comes his way. The 34-year-old recently invested in the Formula One team Alpine, but he is looking to keep expanding his portfolio.
“I would love to be able to own a tiny percentage of the club I grew up cheering on as a boy. I would have loved to have taken 0.00001 percent of Manchester United when Jim Ratcliffe took 25%,” he said in an interview with Sky Sports ahead of the sprint race at the US Grand Prix on Saturday.
“And if another opportunity comes my way, I will look at it. But it is not something that has come across our table as of yet,” McIlroy said
As a fan of the club, he is excited about Ratcliffe’s track record and looks forward to seeing what he can do with full sporting authority. McIlroy said sports team ownership used to mostly happen for people with a lot of money and used to be limited to private equity, but now he sees athletes are learning how to invest their money as well.
He admitted he already had a chance at investing in a different football club, but said his conscience wouldn’t allow him to take that particular opportunity.
“There is Tom Brady at Birmingham and there are a few golfers — Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas — who invested with the 49ers Group, and they own a tiny slice of Leeds,” McIlroy said.
“They asked me if I wanted to come on board, and I said as a Man United fan I cannot go anywhere near that,” McIlroy said.
