Tamami Shimizuishi
Aug 28, 2025
Nikkei
August 28, 2025
Professional baseball team owner's dream comes true with partial ownership, investment returns exceed those of stocks
The boundaries of American sports you didn't know about
By Tamami Shimizuishi
"Last night, I took 20 friends and rented a bus and sat in the VIP box to watch the game," said Kevin Bence, who lives in Alabama, USA, excitedly. About a year and a half ago, he bought 10% of the shares of the professional men's soccer team, the Birmingham Legion, and became a minority owner. The team is a member of the USL, the professional league second only to the MLS, the first division in the United States.
Bence's day job is as president of a privately held company that manufactures fire hydrants, water pipe valves, etc. He's not a billionaire who would make it onto Forbes' billionaire list, but he enjoys the life of a sports team owner.
Bence also owns 5% of the shares of the Tampa Bay Sun, a women's soccer team in the USL Super League. As one of the board members, she was involved in important decisions such as the coach's future, and in June the team won the season championship. "When you invest in stocks, all you get to do is look at company financial statements. With sports investing, you can be part of something fun," explains Bence about the joy of sports investing.
In the United States, more and more people, like Bence, are viewing sports team investment as "an investment that combines a hobby with practical benefits." Bob Malandro, founder of Whitecap Sports Group, an investment firm specializing in sports investment, explains, "Many people are incorporating sports into their portfolios, seeing them as an excellent alternative investment asset."
Professional league opens up to funds
This "partial ownership" movement is spreading to the top leagues as well.
In the United States, it was common for a prestigious team to be purchased by a wealthy local businessman with a huge investment and then owned entirely by his family. However, this situation changed in 2019 when Major League Baseball (MLB) opened its doors to private equity (PE) investment funds on the condition that they remained minority shareholders. Investment money that can earn returns by owning part of a sports team has begun to attract.
MLB's decision was followed by the NBA, NHL, and NFL. According to the American research firm PitchBook, 20 NBA teams have received capital from private equity funds, including investments from individual fund partners. This accounts for nearly 70% of the total 30 teams.
According to an analysis by the University of Michigan Business School and other institutions, investment returns from sports investments over the past 10 years have averaged 15.3% per year, exceeding the 13.6% for US stocks (S&P 500 Index) and the 2.3% for bonds. In addition, the value of sports teams is less susceptible to economic fluctuations, so relatively stable returns can be expected even when other investments such as stocks and real estate are volatile.
Malandro's clients are mainly those with around $5 million (approximately 740 million yen) in investable assets. They don't have the financial means to buy a major US professional team on their own, but they have plenty of options, including domestic minor leagues and overseas sports teams. Malandro says, "I don't recommend investments that will wipe out all of your retirement savings. I suggest investments that suit each investor's asset size and risk tolerance."
Team value has increased 50 times in four years
In 2021, popular Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds and his American actor friend bought Wrexham, a small Welsh soccer club, for approximately 2 million pounds (approximately 400 million yen). Since then, the team has achieved the remarkable feat of being promoted three years in a row, all the way up to the second division. This season, they are aiming to be promoted to the English Premier League, which is crowded with the world's strongest teams.
According to Bloomberg, the team is now worth around £100 million, a simple calculation equating to a 50-fold increase in value in four years.
The process by which the two men, who had no knowledge of soccer club management, turned around a fifth-division team has been broadcast as a documentary. "Wrexham is a rare example of a team whose value has increased by several dozen times in a short period of time," says Malandro. Nevertheless, as more information is available about the behind-the-scenes aspects of team management, a wider range of people are becoming interested in sports investment.
"The title of sports team owner is an elite status symbol," says Shana Orczyk Sissel of Banríon Capital Management, a US firm specializing in alternative assets, explaining that sports investment has a special value that is different from other investments. "Demand is strong, and when information about investment opportunities in sports teams is made public, inquiries flood in and investment slots fill up in an instant," says Sissel.
NBA Lakers sold for $10 billion
Sports teams' revenue comes mainly from three sources: broadcasting rights, ticket sales, and sponsorship revenue, all of which are showing steady growth in recent times. In particular, with major tech companies entering the video streaming service market, broadcasting rights for live sports broadcasts have skyrocketed in price. Even as entertainment options diversify and people are increasingly turning away from television, many American consumers still insist that they "watch live sports broadcasts."
Jordan Solomon, co-founder of Arktos Partners, a US private equity fund specializing in sports investments, analyzes that sports investments involve relatively few uncertainties. "Since 80 to 90 percent of annual revenue (from broadcasting rights and sponsorship contracts) is fixed before the season begins, the revenue base is stable over the long term."
Managing a team comes with risks, such as rising player salaries and fans losing interest due to poor performance, but investment enthusiasm is only increasing.
In June of this year, it was reported that the ownership stake of the NBA's Lakers would be sold for $10 billion, the largest price in professional sports history. In March, the Boston Celtics were sold for $6.1 billion, a record at the time, but that record was broken in just three months.