Wealth Management Insight
Evaluating Sports Team Ownership?
Goldman Sachs currently works with over 100 professional sports team owners to help maximize their impact. Our report below shares insights for individuals exploring potential investment opportunities in the sports industry.
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Today’s constantly evolving global sports landscape generates hundreds of billions of dollars in both direct and sports-adjacent revenues. We are excited to share perspective on trends in consumer behavior, technology, media rights and more — drawn from our decades-long experience supporting the multifaceted needs of professional sports teams, owners and investors.
New media has changed global sports drastically.
Advertisers
Advertisers, looking to target viewers at scale, have been willing to pay a significant premium to access sports' broad audience.
Media contract revenues
Increasing media contract revenues in the US have driven growth in team revenue, player salaries, and team valuations.
Global Impact
Trends in media rights values and team valuations have played out across all leagues – but in different ways.
While media contract growth is slowing broadly, our clients expect they will provide significant and stable revenue in major US leagues over the next 10+ years.
Major US leagues have approved minority ownership by private equity firms, which is likely to expand access for investors.
In the words of one owner, sports investment comes down to an "axis of risk tolerance vs. enjoyment."
This framework, along with a thorough understanding of the risks, can help prospective team owners evaluate opportunities.
- Community Impact
- Next Generation Planning
- Leverage
- Wealth Planning
- Private Equity
Community Impact
Desire to make an impact, hometown ties, and/or passion for the sport are often a top motivating factors for control owners. For many, community engagement is not only the right thing to do but also good business practice. Strong community ties keep fans coming back.
Owners are innovating around key trends
Many control owners constantly evolve their team's models to build successful, durable, and profitable franchises, leveraging opportunities they observe in the marketpklace to help drive revenue.
Media expansion
Leagues and teams are exploring ways to more directly control media distribution and the accompanying revenue.
Multi-experience real estate
Control owners are looking beyond traditional home game revenue by building stadium-adjacent entertainment complexes.
Women's sports
Women’s sports are entering a new era, with record viewership and attendance numbers.
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