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The New England Patriots made the type of history this year that you only read about in LinkedIn updates from your former frat bro in B2B sales: They became the first team backed by private equity to reach the Super Bowl (and the first team backed by PE to get bullied in a Super Bowl). Whether it’s professional, college, or youth sports, private equity is getting into all areas of the game:
The attraction of pro sports is easy to understand. With recent team valuations rising well into the billions, the pool of people who can afford a stake is getting shallower. The $6.1 billion sale of the Boston Celtics to Bill Chisholm last year included $1 billion from Sixth Street, a private equity firm that also owns a stake in MLB’s San Francisco Giants. Waiting and seeing with college sports: Firms and schools will be keeping a close eye on how the Utah–Otro deal works as the NCAA navigates a Wild West of NIL rules. Otro’s reported $500 million investment, which includes help from donors, will allow it to manage several Utah athletic operations, including licensing and media. Youth sports? Really? Ask any parent who has had to drag their kids across state lines for an all-day lacrosse tournament about how expensive it can be. In recent years, firms have poured billions into TeamSnap, a platform that facilitates the scheduling of games; Varsity Brands, an apparel-maker and organizer of cheer competitions; and IMG Academy, a boarding school that has graduated many future professional athletes. |