2026 Perspectives in Private Equity: Sports

This article is part of the “Perspectives in Private Equity” series.

Professional sports continue to emerge as an attractive asset class for private equity investors, as evolving ownership dynamics, attractive fundamentals and underlying growth drivers create opportunities.

Sports investments offer sponsors an opportunity to diversify portfolios, reduce risk and deliver uncorrelated returns, while tapping into an industry experiencing strong growth driven by continued demand for content, league expansion and the adoption of new revenue models. Sports teams and leagues can also represent unique trophy assets for investors, often delivering intangible value beyond financial returns.

With the NFL’s adoption of new rules regarding private equity ownership, all major U.S. sports leagues are now allowing funds to take minority stakes in teams. The ownership of multiple stakes across leagues and teams is now permitted, driving a growing trend for minority investments, which now account for close to half of all global sports transactions.

For private equity firms, the value creation opportunities beyond the game are particularly attractive in sports, with modern venues offering real estate development potential as well as emerging revenue streams linked to media rights or sports betting.

College Sports in the Spotlight

The long-anticipated flurry of deal activity in college sports started to take shape in 2025. The National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) House antitrust settlement now permits schools to share revenues and enter into NIL-based agreements with athletes, creating a need for additional operating capital; a need that institutional capital is well-suited to address.

Several significant transactions in college sports were in the news in 2025. A proposed $2.4 billion dollar deal between the Big Ten and UC Investments was announced and then postponed after opposition emerged from member schools. The University of Utah and the Big 12 also announced they were working towards transactions with private equity firms. The proposed transactions between the University of Utah and Otro Capital and the Big 12 and RedBird Capital Partners and Weatherford Capital’s Collegiate Athletic Solutions Fund, have not yet closed, but will be closely watched by schools, conferences and investors.

There is also significant federal legislative activity that could significantly impact college sports. In the wake of the Trump administration’s July 2025 Executive Order, “Saving College Sports,” Congress is currently considering several new pieces of legislation: including the Student Compensation and Opportunity through Rights and Enforcement (SCORE) Act; the Student Athletic Fairness and Enforcement (SAFE) Act; and the Protect College Sports from Private Equity and Foreign Influence (PROTECT) Act.

The SCORE Act seeks to give the NCAA authority to enact and enforce rules in college sports, including rules related to athlete compensation. The SAFE Act would amend the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 to facilitate the pooling of college football and other sports media rights. The PROTECT Act aims to ban all private equity investment in college sports programs and conferences. In addition, groups like Athletes.org are promoting collective bargaining, modeled after professional leagues, as a potential solution.

As a result, there is much to watch in 2026, with any of these developments having the potential to meaningfully change the calculus for college sports investing moving forward.

NBA and NFL Valuations Rocket

The record $10 billion deal that saw the Los Angeles Lakers sold to businessman Mark Walter in 2025 is just the latest evidence of the continued escalation of valuations in both the NBA and the NFL.

The NBA has announced that it is actively pursuing expansion into Europe and supports the launch of a new, pan-European league, as well as proposing a new World Cup of Basketball, creating significant opportunities for investors, as well as for existing NBA teams. Likewise, the NFL’s success at building audiences internationally, drawing big crowds for games, has captured private equity attention and will continue to drive valuation increase that outpace other market segments.

Secondaries Platforms Under Discussion

With market watchers keenly anticipating the first sponsor-to-sponsor trade in the NBA or NFL, which will evidence the ability of sponsors to crystallize returns, the possibility of creating a secondaries platform for sports stakes is also receiving much attention.

With KKR planning to buy sports-focused private equity firm Arctos Partners in a $1 billion deal and ordinary investors clamoring for access to the sports asset class, rumors that secondaries platforms are under development may come to pass in 2026. A development that could further fuel the demand for minority interests in Big 5 leagues and other sports-connected assets.

Growing Demand for Live Experiences

The appetite for global events and experiences is another theme underpinning private equity transactions in the larger ecosystem of sports assets.

In May 2025, Akin advised Ari Emanuel’s new company MARI on its acquisition of a portfolio of global events and experiences, including an international portfolio of ATP and WTA or tennis tournaments, including the Miami and Madrid Open. MARI is backed by a number of sports-focused investors, including Apollo Global Management and RedBird Capital Partners.

Streaming and Media Rights Opportunities

Much of the growth potential in team and league valuations is connected to the changing media landscape, and the rise of streaming platforms and the continuing growth and proliferation of live sports. Teams, leagues and conferences have opportunities to participate in the development of new media distribution channels and platforms, including locally and regionally. The NBA’s re-negotiation of its league-wide media rights packages generated a 2.8x increase in rights fees and has led to significant increases in team valuations.

Investors may want to pay close attention to developments in MLB. While MLB signed new three-year media rights agreements with Netflix, NBCUniversal and ESPN in late 2025 on the back of a season that saw record viewership, the league faces challenges in connection with team local media rights. The decline in pay TV subscribers has limited the appetite of RSN’s to pay escalating local rights fees to teams, leaving a number of teams without local media distribution heading into the 2026 season. In addition, MLB faces collective bargaining negotiations with the players’ association, creating the potential for labor stoppages and missed games.   Unlike the NBA, the NFL and the NHL, MLB does not have a salary cap, allowing large-market teams to drive up player costs and affect the competitive balance in the league. The resolution of these issues should be closely watched by investors with an interest in MLB teams.

Further Growth Potential

Investors are increasingly attracted to opportunities in growing and emerging sports, particularly women’s sports. The continuously rapid, increasing popularity of the WNBA, the growth in valuations in the National Women’s Soccer League and the Women’s Super League in Europe and the launch of the Professional Women’s Hockey League, have shown the growth potential available to investors. Revenues in women’s sports are poised for continued growth as a growing set of sponsors and broadcasters see the value of those media assets. Investors should watch for the resolution of collective bargaining negotiations in the WNBA, which could have a significant impact on league and team expenses, as well as additional information about the NBA’s much-discussed launch of a women’s basketball league in Europe.