Investing in Sport – Ahead of the Game: Sports Horizon Scanning 2026

What’s happened in 2025? 

Investment in sport has continued to surge through 2025, fuelled by a diverse mix of investors, private equity, sovereign wealth funds and even athletes. These stakeholders are keen to tap into both traditional revenue streams like broadcasting and sponsorship, as well as new technology-driven opportunities now emerging in the sector. With competition for media rights intensifying and global brands increasingly turning to sport to boost customer engagement, the industry’s value, and its appeal to investors, looks set to grow even further in 2026.

Key developments and predictions for 2026 

Private equity’s evolving playbook: Strategic investment and innovation in sport

Private equity and venture capital activity in sport has been especially active in 2025. Notable deals include the sale of the Boston Celtics to a consortium led by Sixth Street Partners and Apollo Sport Capital’s majority stake in Athletico Madrid. In the UK, ‘The Hundred’ competition saw each franchise sold to private investors, such as the London Spirit’s transfer from Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) to a group of investors including Silver Lake, with Bird & Bird advising the MCC.

The approach of private equity involvement in sport is evolving. Leading firms are now deploying dedicated sports investment vehicles. CVC Capital Partners, for example, has launched a $14 billion global sports group, enabling investment across multiple sports, geographies and investment types, from league equity stakes to media rights partnerships. Apollo Global Management’s $5 billion sports vehicle signals growing institutional confidence in sport as a specialised asset class. These funds bring sector expertise and support more strategic, long-term value creation, moving beyond opportunistic deals.

Looking ahead to 2026, private equity investment in sport is expected to strengthen further. There’s growing interest in sports adjacent properties, such as talent management, as seen in Goldman Sachs’ private equity arm $1 billion acquisition of Excel Sports Management. The rise of dedicated sports vehicles points to more sophisticated strategies, combining team ownership, media rights, technology platforms and ancillary businesses.

Athlete investment and new competitions

Athlete and celebrity investment in sports properties has become increasingly prominent in recent years. High-profile examples include with Tom Brady’s stake in Birmingham City FC and the acquisition of Wrexham FC by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. The trend continued in 2025, with Luka Modrić (joined later by Snoop Dogg), purchasing a stake in Swansea A.F.C, a transaction co-advised by Bird & Bird.

Looking ahead, athlete investments are set to play an even bigger role in 2026, especially in new competitions. For instance, Stephen Curry and Giannis Antetokoumpo invested in the three-on-three women’s basketball league, Unrivalled, as part of a Series A funding round, and the APEX backed six-a-side football competition, Baller League, received investments from many high profile footballers. The natural chemistry between an athlete investor, offering lower profile properties an elevated platform, and the league, offering an individual investor a more accessible lower value entry point, will drive the continuation of this trend in 2026.

US investment: Breaking records and expanding influence in global sport

The NBA set new records in 2025 for the highest-value sports team acquisitions: first, the Boston Celtics at $6.1 billion, followed by the LA Lakers at $10 billion. Meanwhile, the NFL has attracted attention since a 2024 rule change, which allowed private equity funds to acquire up to a 10% stake in franchises. Although market activity has been limited so far, notable deals include Arctos Partners’ investments in the Buffalo Bills and the Los Angeles Chargers. With discussions underway about raising the 10% cap, 2026 could see a new wave of private equity investment in NFL teams.

US investment in European sport has also ramped up. Over the past year, highlights include the Friedkin Group’s takeover of Everton in December 2024 (after a failed bid by 777 partners) and John Textor’s sale of Crystal Palace to Woody Johnson for $190 million, prompted by multi-club ownership issues when both Lyon and Crystal Palace qualified for the Europa League.

Multi-club ownership: Building resilience and navigating regulation 

Multi-club ownership models are gaining traction among football club owners as a way to pool resource, accelerate growth and create more resilient investment structures, helping clubs avoid the cyclical revenue swings tied to media and sponsorship rights that single-club models often face. In 2025, several notable acquisitions took place: Velocity Sports Partners (owners of Burnley FC) acquired RCD Espanyol de Barcelona and Best Intentions Analytics (owners of Brentford FC) acquired Merida.

This trend is likely to continue into 2026, especially if current rules on multi-club ownership are relaxed. However, regulation could still act as a barrier if investors view it as too restrictive or risky, as seen in the challenges faced by Crystal Palace in 2025. Clubs and investors will need to keep a close eye on regulatory developments to make informed decisions about future multi-club strategies.

Women’s sport: Overcoming valuation challenges and unlocking global growth

Women’s teams continue to face persistent challenges around scale and valuation. Traditional sports valuation methods, relying on historical revenue, comparable deals, and established media rights cycles (all of which we’ve previously reported on), don’t always translate well to women’s sports, where data is limited and structural issues like centralised IP rights and league-level governance can restrict value creation for team-level investors. 

Despite these hurdles, 2025 has been a year of strong activity and growing investor interest. Several women’s football teams, including Chelsea, Aston Villa and Everton, have been sold. The rise of the multi-club model, seen with investors like Kynisca (owner of the London City Lionesses, Washington Spirit and Lyon) and Mercury 13 (owner of Bristol City FC and Como Women), has sparked a wave of market activity.

Multi-club portfolios in women’s football are a strategic response to the sector’s unique investment landscape. By sharing best practices, aggregating commercial rights and achieving economies of scale in marketing, recruitment and content, investors can address the scale challenges individual teams face and position themselves for growth as the women’s game expands globally.

With industry revenues expected to surpass $2.35 billion in 2025, further market consolidation is likely in 2026 as investors look to capitalise on the multi-club approach. The sector is poised for a distinctive growth curve: slow development followed by rapid acceleration once visibility and commercial infrastructure reach critical mass. It will be interesting to see if investment spreads beyond Europe and North America, especially as new broadcasting deals signal a truly global reach (including the WSL’s broadcasting agreements), including into key markets like the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia: Shaping the future of sport through strategic investment

Saudi Arabian investment in sport has been making headlines for several years, and the announcement that the country will host the 2034 FIFA World Club has firmly established its status as a major player in global sport. In 2025, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and SURJ Sports Investment made several high-profile international investments, acquiring a $1 billion minority stake in DAZN, launching a new ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Saudi Arabia, committing $1 billion to FIFA for global stadium

development loans and taking a leading role in the $55 billion acquisition of Electronic Arts (EA). The EA deal is particularly noteworthy, as it could serve as a springboard for further Saudi Arabian investment at the intersection of sports and technology in 2026.

On the club side, Al Kholood became the first Saudi Pro League club to reach full foreign ownership after its acquisition by the US investment firm Harburg Group. With more clubs now up for sale, 2026 could see a further wave of international investment into the Saudi Pro League, accelerating the country’s ambition to shape the future of global sport.

The issuance of Saudi Arabia’s new Sports Law under Royal Decree No. (M/121) in December 2025 has furthered the framework for investment in Saudi Arabian sports, for example by: (i) recognising the legal status of certain sports bodies (including clubs and leagues), who will be assigned specific legal status and will be registrable with the National Sports Registry; and (ii) enabling nonprofit clubs and leagues to convert to companies. Certain aspects of the framework remain subject to ministerial decisions, including foreign investment limits and requirements for M&A approvals in relation to sports bodies. As the Sports Minister will devise and issue the implementing regulations in the first half of 2026, more detail around these elements of the framework, and therefore the direction of travel for investment in Saudi Arabian sport, should become clearer in 2026.

To read the full report for Ahead of the Game: Sports Horizon Scanning 2026, click here.