America loves football (yes, European football)

The trend of institutional asset managers and institutional investors buying into sports assets originated with US interest in European football teams. This trend dates back to the early 2000s, when three American PEs purchased Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in 2006 – though today the marquee franchise is owned by Qatar Sports Investments (QSI). European Big Five football leagues were backed by private equity, venture capital, or private debt firms.ⁱⁱ

Clearlake Capital made waves by acquiring the English Premiere League’s (EPL) Chelsea Football Club in 2022, alongside a consortium led by the LA Dodgers owner. Other top tier cross-continental buys include Ares Management and Atletico Madrid, Oaktree Capital and Inter Milan, and Elliot Management and AC Milan.

Additionally, Ares has provided debt financing to Chelsea—illustrating covenant design around media and match-day revenues, and the reputational optics of high-profile borrowers. Elite football clubs need to pay their bills just as much as the rest of us. Oaktree took control of the Italian club Inter Milan in May 2024 after a €395m default. Firms are serious about enforcement on club equity. It didn’t send a collection agency. It simply enforced the collateral agreement and took control of the club.

Capital flows freely across the Atlantic

Rules on foreign investment are fairly thin and diverse. Italy’s top soccer league, Serie A, allows PE and other funds to own teams outright. The German Bundesliga has a ‘50+1’ rule; the fans must own more than half of a club’s equity. Aside from that, corporations and funds are permitted to have minority ownership. In England, the EPL only asks that buyers meet the league’s requirements for suitability and proof of capital.

The trend is accelerating. In early 2025, nearly two-thirds of football club transactions involved U.S.-based buyers, including takeovers of Leyton Orient, Reading FC, Benfica stake investment, etc.ⁱⁱⁱ However, regulators and the EPL itself have pricked up their ears of late, contemplating greater scrutiny and transparency into complex ownership structures, to guard against various forms of illicit finance.^iv

The world loves football (yes, American football)

It seems that tariffs are not the only thing remaking the global flow of capital. Ultra-famous American professional sports leagues have been opening the doors to foreign ownership of US assets. The notoriously guarded National Football League (NFL) voted in August 2024 to allow PE funds to own up to 10% of a franchise on a passive basis. That change adds look-through ownership, conflict-of-interest and disclosure implications for team cap tables and LP communications.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) adjusted ownership rules to allow investment from PE and sovereign wealth funds. Now, a United Arab Emirates sovereign wealth fund, Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Capital, is backing the TWG Global deal to buy the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers.

Trends like these are changing asset managers’ investment strategies. Aside from regulatory and foreign exchange cross-border concerns, in today’s fraught geopolitical atmosphere, firms need to choose their international sports transactions wisely and perhaps hedge their positions in other markets.

Sovereign wealth funds & pension funds get in the game

The Public Investment Fund (PIF), the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, famously launched its own professional LIV Golf league in the US in 2023. MENA sovereign wealth funds are willing and able to outbid for upside, evidenced by the Saudi Arabia PIF-backed $409 million takeover of 80% of the English club Newcastle United in 2021.^v A sovereign wealth fund is allowed to own up to 7.5% of an entity that owns a maximum of 10% of an NFL club.

In a similar vein, the $56 billion Texas Schools Pension Fund bought a stake in a sports PE firm. In 2023, OMERS, a pension fund for Ontario municipal employees, purchased a 5% minority stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Toronto Raptors, among other sports teams.

Family offices, celebrity investors, and the luxury asset effect

Family offices love sports. GMF Capital purchased a majority stake in Motorsport Network Media, with nearly 50 different racing and automotive properties. Tricor Pacific made its first foray into sports with its investment in Treaty United FC, the men’s and women’s professional teams from Ireland. Women’s professional sports leagues like the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) have seen rapid valuation increases, as an exciting emerging sports market. Natalie Portman was a founder of NWSL Angel City FC, leading a glossy list of female movie stars from Christina Aguilera to Serena Williams as investors.^vi