Investing in the sports industry: Putting money where you can root for it to grow

If you really love your car, and you think it’s a superior product, you might want to invest in the company that makes it. But if you really love a sports team (or want to invest in a successful team), it’s not as easy to back that sports team with your capital. Beyond repping your team’s merch, is there a way to show your support and make a profit at the same time?

Investing in sports teams directly

Unless you are very wealthy, you probably can’t afford to buy a sports team outright. For example, buying a sports team can cost you billions. But not many investors have billions to devote to a passion investment.

However, even millionaires – if they are accredited investors – are able to buy a portion of a sports team through private equity investments. In 2021, private equity invested $51 billion in sports teams around the world and $22 billion in Europe specifically. Case in point, as of December 2024, 71 major North American sports teams, collectively valued at $205.5 billion, have connections to private equity. That’s more than a third of the teams in the major national leagues.

Although many sports teams are private companies, which makes it more difficult for the average person to invest in the team, some are listed on public exchanges, giving you the opportunity to buy their stock if you are interested. However, these investments might be mostly symbolic and unlikely to yield returns. For example, the shares of some football teams’ stock don’t appreciate in value, don’t pay a dividend and cannot be resold.

Other ways to invest in the sports industry

There are other ways to invest in professional sports that may both appreciate in equity value and pay dividends. Services that support the business of sports or that connect fans to their favorite teams are sometimes publicly traded companies. These companies include:

Beyond traditional sports that occur in the physical world, it is also possible to invest in companies that promote, facilitate or represent esports. Watching other people play video games has become a big business, with live streaming audiences expected to grow to 1.8 billion people by 2029 (up from 593.2 million in 2019). According to Statista, the total audience for esports will be 640 million people worldwide in 2025, including roughly 318 million “esports enthusiasts” or habitual viewers.

However, esports teams aren’t just sporting enterprises. They are also technology companies, which means that you can invest in them through your exposure to well-known, blue-chip technology names. From game makers to streaming channels, there are ways to get exposure to the growth in esports while simultaneously putting capital in proven, profit-making companies.

Sports-themed ETFs

Buying an exchange-traded fund (ETF) can reduce volatility in your portfolio because, instead of putting all your money in one company, you spread your investment over several companies held in the same fund. If you are interested in esports, for example, you can buy a technology-themed ETF that holds many popular tech and gaming names.

Media-focused ETFs will hold shares of the publicly traded companies that bring viewers and fans their daily diet of games across all sports. Some ETFs will focus on companies that produce the apparel, gear and equipment for athletes across a wide range of sports. The rise in online sports betting, both in the U.S. and internationally, has also created investment opportunities; an ETF that owns these companies can give investors access to the sports industry.

If you already have ETFs in your portfolio, you may already own shares of sport-adjacent companies. The questions to ask yourself are: How much more exposure do I want in this sector, and does more investment here fit my risk profile? Diversifying your portfolio with other industries can help manage risk. These questions can be answered with the help of an investment professional who can guide you through the pros and cons of investing in sports.

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