Art by Gus Scott
Institutional investments in professional sports teams may grab headlines, but sports investing is much more than owning a piece of a major club.
Technology has pushed the boundaries of sports to encompass everything from consumers using wearables to track their performance and improve their physical well-being to real-time visualization during live events. With sports technology moving from elite athlete to weekend warrior and beyond, Pictet Asset Management forecasts the sports technology market will reach $55.1 billion by 2030, up from $14.7 billion in 2023.
Additionally, two U.S. Supreme Court decisions have made sports entertainment more lucrative: First, in 2018, Murphy v. NCAA opened the way for legalized sports betting beyond Nevada; and second, in 2021, NCAA v. Alston allowed college athletes to earn non-scholarship income based on their name, image and likeness. Those decisions allowed sports betting to become legal in many states—fans can now make wagers from their phones—and let collegiate athletes build themselves as brands.
The combination of technology and legal changes have created new avenues through which institutions can invest in sports that were not viable even a decade ago.
“The professionalization of the investment side of sports is happening,” says Wayne Kimmel, managing partner in SeventySix Capital, an early-stage sports tech venture capital fund.
Wellness Trends
Greg Baker, managing partner in Alumni Ventures, which includes a sports fund among its many offerings, says wearable technology has been a “huge” driver for the wellness market to reach consumers. Wearables can track performance, which may give users confidence to stick with a new exercise routine. Oura Ring, which looks like a piece of jewelry and tracks sleep, fitness and wellness, is one of the fund’s investments.
These devices “help people get past the hump,” Baker says.
Alumni’s Sports Fund recently invested in Shape Scale, which takes a 3D image of a person, allowing doctors and trainers to track the impact of their exercise, diet or fitness routine.
Baker says Alumni will be watching the future impact of glucagon-like peptide drugs, known as GLP-1s, such as Ozempic, on users’ interest in exercise as they lose weight. It might spur greater interest in fitness, although it is too soon to tell, he says.
Sports Equipment, Youth Sports
Sports equipment companies were the traditional way to invest in sports, and they remain a key avenue, says Matt Elberts, a director in RW Baird’s global consumer investment banking group. An increase in women participating in sports and the continued expansion of youth sports beyond school have produced burgeoning markets for sports equipment and other gear.
Elberts points to Baird’s work with Canadian hockey outfitter CCM Hockey, a longstanding brand purchased from adidas in 2017 by Birch Hill Equity Partners; Swedish firm Altor Equity Partners recently agreed to acquire a majority stake in CCM in a deal expected to close by the end of the year. Montreal-based CCM’s valuation grew to between $370 and $444 million from $110 million in those seven years, which included the launch of the first line of apparel and equipment designed specifically for women by a major equipment provider.
Women’s hockey also got a boost in North America in 2023 with the launch of the six-team Professional Women’s Hockey League, intended to be more financially stable than previous women’s hockey leagues, and both women’s soccer and women’s basketball have seen considerable commercial growth in recent years.
Youth sports clubs are also growing, as is the spending required to participate. SeventySix Capital’s Kimmel says parents who want their children to participate in top private clubs may spend up to $20,000 per child per sport.
Elberts notes how Juggernaut Capital Partners and Fiume Capital partnered with 3Step Sports to create what he terms the “largest youth sports operating platform.” Their technology is intended to improve infrastructure that manages logistics such as registration, allowing coaches to focus on the kids rather than on managing a business.
“Businesses like youth sports in particular … [are] recession-resistant in the sense that parents tend to not cut back spending on their children, in part because of the benefits that are associated with team sports,” Elberts says, referring to positive social and emotional effects.
Already big business, youth sports may grow even more commercial due to changes brought by NCAA v. Alston. Allowing students to be paid is expected to have ripple effects beyond college sports. In perhaps the most high-profile example, Bronny James, son of National Basketball Association superstar LeBron James, signed an NIL deal during his senior year of high school.
As student-athletes become more prominent, companies are forming to allow college sports fans to get information about and entertainment from players, who are compensated for their content. Baker says Players’ Lounge, one of Sports Fund’s investments, launched at some colleges and quickly became a go-to source for information about the teams, since it includes stories from journalists and players.
Sports technology is making a mark as well. For example, SeventySix invested in Diamond Kinetics, a baseball and softball technology company that uses sensors attached to bats to improve hitting.
Sports as Entertainment
Kimmel says the growth of sports betting has also changed sports as a business. In the six years since Murphy v. NCAA, sports betting has become legal in 38 states and is worth an estimated $150 billion, up from a $10 billion industry available only in one state, he adds.
Sports are booming, and they are among the few televised programs people still watch live, Baker says. During the few hours the game is on, fans are looking for more ways to engage, whether through fantasy leagues, augmented reality or gambling.
Augmented reality may be the future of fan engagement, Kimmel says. There are numerous ventures exploring augmented, virtual and mixed reality in sports entertainment. For example, Quintar Inc. built PGA Tour Vision, an augmented reality app for golf’s PGA Tour to use on the Apple Vision Pro headset, and the NBA has been broadcasting games in virtual reality since 2016. Baker concurs such launches are just early steps in a larger movement.
“You’re going to see more augmented reality, virtual reality tools that will add to that experience,” he says.
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Tags: Altor Equity Partners, Alumni Ventures, Birch Hill Equity Partners, Greg Baker, Matt Elberts, Murphy v. NCAA, NCAA v. Alston, Pictet Asset Management, RW Baird, SeventySix Capital, U.S. Supreme Court, Wayne Kimmel