Listen: My Noa Series for October

Why is sport attracting so much investment now, and can the market for sports investment keep growing? Listen to this Noa Series to learn more.

There’s an old joke that goes: What’s the quickest way to a small fortune?

Have a large fortune – then buy a football club.

Traditionally, football teams weren’t acquired by people looking to make money from them. Love for a team, love for the local area, publicity for a business; these were the reasons to buy a team. Making big profits was not one of them.

But that’s all changing. Growing broadcast revenue and the opening up of international markets have seen the potential riches that a football club can make grow and grow.

In the English Premier League’s first season ending in May 1993, the 22 teams in it had a combined revenue of £205m. For the season that ended in May 2023, the 20 teams in the Premier League had a combined revenue of around £5.8bn. An increase of more than 2,500%.

These rising revenues have changed the profile of the typical owner. Whereas once it was the domain of local businesspeople, now it is more likely to be a US-based, private equity-backed, consortium.

And they’re not doing for the love of the game. They’re convinced there’s money to be made.

At the same time, Middle Eastern investors, backed by sovereign wealth funds, are also piling into football, as well as other sports, including golf, cricket, boxing and more.

Meanwhile, in the US, franchises are changing hands for ever more money. Most recently the Washington Commanders American Football team was sold for $6.1bn – the most expensive sports team deal in history.

In this Series: We’ll start by looking at the numbers and rationale for sports investments before we examine the breadth and depth of Saudi Arabia’s investment in a range of sports. We’ll then explore how some investors are looking to make big bucks by breaking new markets with existing sports, before finishing off by looking at one sport, rugby, that has failed to enjoy the financial bump that other sports have enjoyed.

Can the market for sports investment keep growing? Listen FREE and UNGATED here to find out.

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