Eva Longoria’s Soccer Play: Why Hollywood Stars Are Investing in Sports

At the peak of the trend a few years ago, every celebrity seemed to have their own brand of tequila. Today, there’s a new investment craze: a soccer club and a complementary TV series.

Eva Longoria has both. “Necaxa,” which debuts Thursday on FX, follows the namesake Mexican club, in which Longoria has a stake, as it strives to inch up Mexico’s top league and make the coveted playoffs.

It charts Longoria’s post-investment role as she becomes “La Patrona” (The Boss), as the players on the team call her. Yet soccer is a notoriously hard business, and one now saturated with celebrities who are using their investment to spawn accompanying entertainment. But Longoria said “Necaxa” (pronounced “Necaha”) has a standout story, and a potentially large audience in the U.S. Latino market.

Thanks to the success of “Welcome to Wrexham,” the TV series as an ancillary product…