How family offices bet on sports from fantasy apps to ski resorts
The ultra-rich not only own major league teams but also invest in the picks and shovels of sports.
A version of this article first appeared in CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox. 2025 has been a banner year for sports mergers and acquisitions. In June, billionaire and Guggenheim Partners CEO Mark Walter bought a majority stake in the Los Angeles Lakers at a record $10 billion valuation. That same month, Apollo's Josh Harris and Blackstone's David Blitzer picked up a new Philadelphia WNBA team for $250 million through their titular sports and entertainment company. While sports team ownership changes get most of the buzz, ultra-rich individuals and their private investment firms are taking multiple tacks to profit from the sports industry. BNY Mellon's recent family office survey found that 33% of 282 respondents had invested in sports. BNY Mellon CIO Sinead Colton Grant told CNBC in June that family offices were increasingly investing in sports assets as an inflation hedge. Moreover, while larger family offices were more likely to have sizable equity stakes in teams, investors are also drawn to sports-related assets like merchandise and hospitality venues. "You've got media rights in addition to broader franchise interest. You've got real estate, like the broader complex around the stadium," she said. "There are many strands that are coming together to provide that, that quasi-inflation hedge." Investing in the picks and shovels of sports also comes with a lower barrier to entry. Betting on a strength-training app or buying a ski resort costs a fraction of what it takes to buy an equity stake in a multibillion-dollar sports team. While many family offices are agnostic when it comes to specific sports, the Chaifetz Group has built a pickleball portfolio. Launched by Richard Chaifetz, the founder of employee resource giant ComPsych, the Chicago-based family office not only owns pickleball team St. Louis Shock but also has invested in at least four pickleball-centric companies including Pickletile, a pickleball court construction company, and DUPR, which provides live ratings of pickleball matches. Billionaire Blitzer, the first person to own equity in all five major men's U.S. sports leagues, has invested in a slew of sports startups this year including Fantasy Life, a sports betting media firm, and Ballers, a chain of social clubs for racket sports. Blitzer told CNBC in 2023 that sports teams hold their value due to limited supply, while yielding related investment opportunities. "They're not making any more of them, and they're growing," he said at that year's CNBC x Boardroom Game Plan summit. "They're not just growing on their existing fan base. They're creating new fans for creating new revenue streams."
