A few weeks ago I attended an exclusive conference with some of the wealthiest families in the world.
Owning professional sports teams was a big topic of conversation.
Sports team valuations are continuing to skyrocket due to a few factors. I think the biggest however is that there aren’t enough professional teams for the amount of billionaires that want them.
Take Josh Harris, Co-Founder of Apollo Global Management who bought the Washington Commanders for $6B last year. It was the highest price ever paid for a sports team and $1.35B higher than the Denver Broncos were bought for a year earlier.
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With the new league ruling allowing PE firms to own up to 10% of NFL teams, I think we will see valuations continue to climb. You’ll also see family offices pouring into PE funds focused on sports.
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Why Ultra-High-Net-Worth Families Are Buying Teams
It’s not just about prestige, though that’s part of it. There are real structural reasons why sports teams have become the asset class of choice for the ultra-wealthy.
First: supply is permanently constrained. There are 32 NFL teams. That number isn’t going up. As the pool of people who can afford to buy grows, the number of available teams doesn’t. Basic economics pushes prices in one direction.
Second: media rights keep expanding. The NFL’s latest TV deal was worth $113B over 11 years. As streaming platforms compete for live sports rights, that number will grow. Team owners participate in every dollar of that upside.
Third: depreciation rules. Under IRS guidelines, owners can depreciate the value of player contracts as an intangible asset. For a $6B team purchase, that’s a significant annual tax benefit. At the highest income levels, the tax efficiency alone makes the math compelling.
What This Signals About Where Capital Is Going
The conversations at that conference pointed to something broader than sports.
Ultra-high-net-worth families are increasingly moving toward what I’d call trophy assets: things that are scarce by design, culturally significant, and appreciating faster than traditional stores of value. Sports teams. Landmark real estate. Art. Early-stage stakes in transformative companies.
The common thread is scarcity. You can print more bonds. You can’t create more NFL franchises.
For those of us not buying teams outright, the PE fund route is worth watching. Partial ownership vehicles are already emerging, and the early movers into sports-focused funds will likely see meaningful appreciation as the asset class matures.
The question isn’t whether sports team valuations will keep climbing. It’s who gets access to the upside as they do.