Giannis Antetokounmpo, Filip Forsberg become MLS team owners

More star athletes are investing in Major League Soccer.

Milwaukee Bucks champion Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nashville Predators all-time leading scorer Filip Forsberg are joining Nashville SC as owners.

Antetokounmpo’s brothers, Thanasis, Kostas, and Alex — who all play professional basketball — will also join the ownership group. Giannis, who became a minority investor in the Milwaukee Brewers in 2021, said his father was a professional soccer player.

Forsberg and the Antetokounmpo brothers aren’t the first professional athletes to cross sports to join MLS.

Last year, Tennessee Titans All-Pro running back Derrick Henry — along with Reese Witherspoon and her husband, Jim Toth — became owners of the Nashville team. 

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes purchased a stake in Sporting Kansas City in 2021, two years after Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson purchased a stake in the Seattle Sounders.

Antetokounmpo isn’t the only NBA player to invest in the league, either. 

Philadelphia 76ers star James Harden took a stake in the Houston Dynamo in 2019, and Phoenix Suns’ player Kevin Durant purchased a stake in the Philadelphia Union in 2020.

The investments continue to roll in as MLS team valuations are on the rise — the average valuation has climbed 85% since 2019 to $579 million, according to Forbes.