Money game

Media rights, sponsorship, merchandising and ticket sales, along with esports, data and online streaming platforms all feed into a lucrative and growing opportunity, according to Molly Moseley, senior associate with Charles Russell Speechlys. ‘Sport has transcended its traditional boundaries’ and is now ‘a multifaceted industry attracting a diverse array of stakeholders, from venture capitalists to tech innovators’, she says.

As in the music industry, fan commitment also makes a distinct contribution to the broader economy. The WEF report says that, globally, an estimated US$672bn was spent on accommodation, food and travel last year by people travelling to watch or play sport, while sports-related tourism now accounts for 10% of annual international travel industry spend.

Investment magnet

Football offers the clearest current example of financial potency. Since the English Premier League (EPL) was set up in 1992, with a £304m five-year Sky TV broadcast deal, the investment trajectory of the beautiful game has continued to soar.

EY says the economic impact of the EPL, the richest football league in the world, in the 2023/24 season was over 14 times greater than in 1998/99. Mundo Deportivo reports the EPL now injects roughly €11bn (£9.5bn) into the British economy annually, supports 100,000 jobs and delivers €5bn (£4.3bn) in tax revenue.

While rich individuals have long been a feature of football club boardrooms, an expansion beyond the ‘local millionaire’ has been notable in recent years. Writing for US sports broadcaster ESPN, Mark Ogden says that, as of 2025, ‘11 Premier League clubs are majority-owned by American individuals, families or private equity groups’.

Among the new faces, the presence of Hollywood A-listers generates understandable excitement. Starting with Ryan Reynolds’ headline-grabbing takeover of Wrexham AFC in 2021, the trend includes Will Ferrell investing in Leeds United and Snoop Dogg becoming co-owner of Swansea City.

As a canny exercise in star power leverage, it’s a development that appears to leave everyone a winner. Celebrity takeovers elevate team profiles, draw further investment and sponsorship, and inflate asset valuations.

The broadening pool of investors also includes private equity, which, according to Moseley, ‘have been particularly active in acquiring stakes in sports teams and leagues, recognising the potential for growth through strategic management and operational improvements’. Daniel Render, partner at US-based Katten Muchin Rosenmann, points to some strong fundamentals suggesting further growth. ‘Sport has to date tended to be recession-resistant, and valuations of teams have continued to climb regardless of how the stock market or the overall economy performs,’ he says.

Recognition and growth

Investors know the distinct value in being in on the ground for ‘the next big thing’, and Deloitte currently recommends a fresh look at ‘opportunities beyond the traditional strongholds of European and North American football’.

Cricket fans won’t need to be told their sport is on the watch list. The game’s appearance at the 2028 Olympics is set to provide validation of its now global appeal – it already counts as the world’s second most popular sport.

Talking to The New York Times last year, Gareth Balch, CEO of sports agency Two Circles, said the value of cricket’s media rights ‘has risen fivefold over the past five years. That is remarkable growth and most of that is being driven by India and the rest of south Asia.’ Cricket’s current relatively low share of global rightsholder deals suggests further value expansion ahead.

One area where recognition has undoubtedly been overdue is women’s sport. Broadcaster Talksport recently reported Los Angeles-based Angel City FC, a soccer team co-founded by, among others, Serena Williams and Billie Jean King in 2020, is set to be worth US$1bn by the end of the decade.

Its success forms part of an increasingly dynamic picture in women’s professional sport, with Deloitte projecting total global earnings in 2025 at US$2.35bn – more than three times the 2022 figure. A report by Morgan Lewis & Bockius finds that, thanks to fewer structural constraints, women’s sport may actually see ‘better long-term investment opportunities than men’s’. Citywealth’s Karen Jones says ‘football and basketball are predicted to be the most valuable women’s sports globally, followed by tennis, cricket and motorsports’.

Under threat

If the appeal of sport lies in escape from everyday concerns, those concerns are not bypassing sport. One distinct challenge raised by the WEF report is the pressing impact of climate change. This year’s Winter Olympic Games attracted huge interest, but by 2040, only 10 countries may have the conditions and resources to host Winter Olympics and Paralympics, the WEF warns. More broadly, it argues that a fifth of the global sport industry’s potential growth by 2030 is threatened by a troika of familiar issues: physical inactivity, climate change and nature loss.

A new generation of investors may also find the spotlight is not always as flattering as they would wish, as their presence becomes more pronounced and sometimes contested. The signs are already there in English football, which sportswriter David Skilling describes as currently ‘a theatre of soft power, corporate ambition and fan resistance’.

If the global sports economy is entering ‘a phase of accelerated growth’, it does so, the WEF says, with ‘a responsibility and a strategic opportunity to lead’. The WEF believes that ‘its long-term success will increasingly depend on the choices made today’. Investors won’t get to watch from the stands as those decisions are made.