By Giulia Pezzano, Senior Immigration Analyst, Arce Immigration Law (Miami)

In football, the opportunity to relocate to the United States does not always arise from a player transfer. Sometimes it begins with an academy, a training center, a scouting platform, a sports-tech company, or a former player ready to turn reputation into ownership. For Italian football entrepreneurs looking at the U.S. market, the E-2 visa may be one of the most underused and commercially powerful immigration strategies available.

As the United States becomes a more serious destination for global football, the real opportunity goes beyond talent transfer to embrace the essential infrastructure around that talent. Clubs move brands. Coaches move methods. Former players move business models. Technology companies move data, scouting systems, and performance tools. For investors and football entrepreneurs, immigration planning is therefore becoming part of market-entry strategy: a way to establish operations and turn international football expertise into a sustainable U.S. business.

This is especially relevant for Italians. Italy has one of the world’s most recognizable football cultures, with a long tradition of technical training, tactical education, youth development, and sports entrepreneurship. Yet many Italian professionals who look at the U.S. market immediately think they must qualify as “extraordinary” individuals to obtain a visa. For many football entrepreneurs, the stronger path may be simpler: instead of proving public fame, they can focus on the business they are ready to build in the United States — an academy, scouting company, or sports-tech platform — supported by investment, operations, and growth.

The E-2 allows nationals of treaty countries, including Italy, to come to the United States to develop and direct a business in which they have invested a substantial amount of capital. It is not a green card, but for the right entrepreneur, it can be one of the most flexible ways to live in the United States, operate a company, and build a long-term commercial presence in the American market. One of the first questions investors ask is how much they need to invest. There is no fixed amount, because the amount must be proportional to the type of business being launched: a lean scouting company may require less than a full academy or training center. In practice, the E-2 investment must be substantial and proportionate to the type of business: the right amount depends on the totality of the start-up costs of the business that you are willing to open. The investment also does not have to be only cash: equipment, technology, software, training tools, vehicles, or other business assets transferred to the U.S. company may very well be part of the investment.

For Italian nationals, the E-2 is especially attractive because it can be issued for up to five years and can generally be renewed indefinitely, as long as the business remains active. This makes it well-suited to football businesses that need time to grow, build credibility, develop partnerships, and establish a real presence in the U.S. market.

The category is particularly powerful because the U.S. soccer boom is creating gaps that talent visas alone cannot fill. The U.S. soccer market needs more than players. It needs better development systems, specialized academies, stronger technical coaching, scouting infrastructure, sports-performance services, and international football knowledge translated into local operations. That creates space for Italian founders who want to open football academies, goalkeeper schools, futsal programs, summer camps, scouting agencies, or sports-tech platforms.

This is where the E-2 becomes especially valuable from a business perspective. It gives football professionals a way to enter the U.S. market through ownership and active management. A retired player, former academy coach, technical director, agent, sports entrepreneur, club, or football brand may use this structure to launch and operate a U.S. venture, from an academy or scouting office to a camp program, tournament operation, or commercial branch.

There is also a family advantage that many investors underestimate. The investor’s spouse and unmarried children under 21 may generally accompany the principal E-2 visa holder. The spouse may be able to work in the United States without being limited to the E-2 business, while children can attend school until they turn 21 and need their own visa strategy. For many Italian families, this can make the E-2 a practical life plan.

Another important advantage is that the E-2 is based more on the strength of the business than on personal fame. Many U.S. visa options require strong proof that the person is already publicly recognized, such as major awards, press, or other signs of individual acclaim. That can work very well for famous athletes, coaches, or public figures, but it may be harder for professionals whose value is more entrepreneurial than public. Many excellent academy founders, sports-tech operators, agents, scouts, and technical directors are valuable because of the business they can build, the model they can bring, the jobs they can create, and the market gap they can fill.

The E-2 speaks that language. It asks whether the investment is real, whether the business is active, whether the funds are committed and at risk, whether the enterprise is more than marginal, and whether the investor will develop and direct the company. These are business questions, not celebrity questions.

That, in the end, is why the E-2 visa deserves far more attention in football than it usually receives. The talent visas move exceptional individuals and their essential support structure. The E-2 moves the business model behind the game. One is about performance. The other is about enterprise.

The next major football opportunity in the U.S. may not be a player crossing the Atlantic. It may be an Italian academy, a scouting platform, a training center, a sports-tech company, or a retired player building a new chapter as an entrepreneur. In a market where everyone is watching the next player transfer, the more strategic opportunity may be to build the company behind the game.