Back in 2011, LeBron James passed on a cash payment and accepted 2% of Liverpool FC instead. At current valuations, that slice would be worth roughly $124 million.

He no longer holds those shares. In 2021, James and business partner Maverick Carter exchanged the Liverpool stake for a piece of Fenway Sports Group, the club's parent company. The $124 million figure reflects what the original 2% would be worth today, not what he currently owns.

The arrangement started as a marketing deal, not an investment. James and Carter agreed to let Fenway run James's worldwide marketing operations. In return, Fenway handed over 2% of Liverpool, valued at around $6.5 million at the time. No cash changed hands.

The timing mattered. Fenway had acquired Liverpool just a year earlier, in October 2010, paying roughly £300 million for a club buried in debt. The previous owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, were forced into a cheap sale.

Forbes now puts Liverpool's value at $6.2 billion, ranking it fourth among the world's most valuable soccer clubs. Two percent of that figure comes to about $124 million, roughly 19 times the $6.5 million baseline from 2011.

The 2021 swap gave James and Carter approximately 1% of all of Fenway Sports Group, making them the first Black partners in the organization's history. A second deal in 2023 expanded their stake further.

Fenway's scale puts that ownership in context. In 2021, RedBird Capital paid $750 million for roughly 10% of the group, implying a total valuation well into the billions.

The comparison to crypto sports assets is hard to ignore. Tokenized assets tied to sports franchises have attracted growing attention from platforms and investors, though digital fan tokens have repeatedly struggled to hold value after launch. James built his position over a decade by staying put, while most blockchain-based sports products pitch short-term upside.

Whether instruments like 2026 World Cup coins can replicate that kind of compounding is an open question. Liverpool's valuation grew more than tenfold in roughly 15 years. That kind of trajectory is rare even in traditional sports ownership, let alone on-chain alternatives.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice.