Former Chelsea star Didier Drogba has been largely off the soccer radar since leaving the Montreal Impact at the end of last year’s MLS campaign. Now he’s back, but in the lower-level United Soccer League, as a player-owner (soccer’s first, as per The Telegraph) with Phoenix Rising. (The New York Times headline of “Didier Drogba, Famous Soccer Player, Joins Phoenix Rising, Not a Famous Soccer Team” is pretty apt.) Drogba confirmed the news with a tweet Wednesday:
Happy to announce I have signed with @PHXRIsingFC and will be part of the ownership group hoping to take Phoenix to the MLS #Drogba2PHX pic.twitter.com/h1eefmqgJL
— Didier Drogba (@didierdrogba) April 12, 2017
There were plenty of player-owners and player-coaches in the early days of North American sports, including George Halas and Connie Mack, but they’ve become much rarer over time. One of the few recent ones was Mario Lemieux with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2000. Magic Johnson also had an ownership stake in the Lakers when he unretired in 1996, but had to give it up thanks to NBA bylaws, as did Michael Jordan when he came out of retirement with the Washington Wizards in 2001.
Drogba’s involvement here is perhaps especially notable, though, as he’s bringing a lot of attention to the Rising (and as his tweet points out, with the goal of hopefully getting them to MLS; we should note that it’s not “the MLS,” though, Didier). He reportedly had plenty of offers from other teams in other leagues, but opted to go for this one as it gave him an ownership stake and a clear path to a post-playing career. Drogba told The Telegraph‘s Matt Law that opportunity was a key attraction for him:
“It is a very exciting opportunity because it’s a good transition,” said Drogba. “Now, as well as being a football player, I have the chance to be a co-owner as well. It’s a great challenge, something new for me and I am looking forward to it.
“It is very unusual, so I was surprised when the opportunity came up. But it’s so good for me to transition into the next part of my career. I want to learn as much as possible about football off the pitch and this is the best way to do so.”
This is certainly a splashy move for the Rising, and one that may help them stand out in the crowded pack of cities trying to land MLS franchises (12 teams officially submitted bids for consideration for three expansion slots in February). However, it’s far from a guarantee they’ll be able to get there. MLS has long been enamored with the idea of star players eventually owning teams (see Beckham, David), but it has a ton of contenders for potential new franchises.
Phoenix has some big advantages (the 12th-largest TV market in the U.S., for one, plus it’s growing rapidly, and has large millennial and Hispanic populations MLS would love to reach), but some challenges as well; it’s a crowded sports landscape, and one where it may not be easy to get much public financing at the moment given what’s still going on with the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes. (Update: the Rising say their stadium plan would be 100 per cent privately financed and that they already own the necessary land, both factors that would certainly help.)
There’s some interesting star power involved with the Rising now, though. Their primary owner is Kona Grill CEO Berke Bakay (who bought the then-Arizona United last September), but other investors include Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz, Dodgers’ pitcher Brandon McCarthy, and DJ Diplo. And on the pitch, Drogba will be joining former Chelsea teammate Shaun Wright-Phillips and Mexican international Omar Bravo.
We’ll see how much the 39-year-old Drogba has left, but he’s definitely helping the Rising to get a little more attention. He’ll also be gaining some business and management experience along the way. And as for the club, their bid to get to MLS may or may not pay off in the long run, but they certainly boosted their visibility with this play. We don’t see many player-owner deals any more, but there’s a chance this one could work for both sides.
