Every facet of our society—business, politics, entertainment—has its own calendar, marked by matters such as earnings seasons, elections, and the Oscars, in the examples above. The world of sports has a circadian rhythm, too, of course.
We’re now at a familiar transition point, moving from winter sports and a spectacular March Madness, which ended this past Monday, to that harbinger of spring, the Masters, which started on Thursday.
This spring, though, shifts in the sports world are of a more seismic nature. Digitization; gambling; the NIL (name, image, likeness) market for college athletes; globalization; and the rise of women’s sports are reshaping sports at a breakneck pace—much of which was front and center at the global sports leader conference on Kiawah Island, S.C., earlier this month.
“All of these changes are generating even more interest in sports,” says George Pyne, CEO of investment firm Bruin Capital, which produces the event with Jay Penske’s Sportico. Sports, adds Pyne, is an “undervalued category. You’ll see more sophisticated capital—sovereign-wealth funds, private equity—come in as things evolve.”
The numbers in this sprawling trillion-dollar business, which includes sports events, broadcast rights, gaming, merchandise, and apparel, are already eye-popping. The world’s 50 most valuable sports teams are now worth a combined $256 billion, up more than 15% from a year ago, according to Forbes—highlighted by Apollo Global Management co-founder Josh Harris buying the Washington Commanders for $6 billion, the most ever paid for a sports team. The National Football League, which dominates the list with 30 teams, has seen the average value of its top franchises double over the past five years to $5.1 billion, outpacing the S&P 500 index, Barron's reported.
Athletes are benefiting, too, with the 50 highest-paid ones of all time cumulatively reaping $35.5 billion, according to Sportico. The superstars come from 17 countries, though 32 are Americans, led by Michael Jordan and his career haul of $3.75 billion, much of that from his Nike shoe deal.
The Kiawah confab, now in its third year, brings together a who’s who of the sports world, including the commissioners of the Big Four sports leagues plus heads of other leagues and college conferences and nearly 50 teams from myriad sports—as well as boldface team owners (Steve Cohen, Greg Maffei, Ted Leonsis, Joe Tsai) and top TV sports executives.
The program isn’t about sports, however. Attendees are there to listen to panels and fireside chats by former US presidents (George W. Bush and Barack Obama); presidential candidates; central bankers; generals; Fortune 100 CEOs (Hans Vestberg, Brian Moynihan); high-profile market players (Mohamed El-Erian, Cathie Wood); scientists; and doctors.
The real action comes after the sessions over aged bourbon, or at lunch over she-crab soup, or on the resort’s famous packed-sand beach, or on its five golf courses. Here, like any great “elephant bumping” ground, alliances are struck, investments made, and megadeals, such as the sale of an NFL team, go down.
