key points
- According to a new family office survey by BNY Melon, one-third investment firms of Ultra-Rich have invested in the game.
- While billionaire sports-team byouts make headlines, family offices are investing in adjacent assets such as fast live-looking places and betting apps.
- It is reported here that the family offices of the owners of Ultra-Rich sports teams like David Blitzer and Dan Gilbert are spreading their stakes.
A version of this article first appeared in the CNBC’s Inside Wealth Newsletter along with Robert Frank, a weekly guide for a high-apene investor and consumer. Sign up to get future versions, directly on your inbox. 2025 has been a banner year for sports merger and acquisition. In June, Mark Walter, billionaire and CEO of Guggenheim Partners, purchased a majority stake in Los Angeles with a valuation of $ 10 billion. The same month, Apollo’s Josh Harris and Blackstone’s David Blitzer raised a new Philadelphia WNBA team for $ 250 million through their title Sports and Entertainment Company. While the ownership changes of the sports team are mostly discussed, ultra-rich individuals and their private investment firms are charging several taxes for benefit from sports industry. The recent family office survey of BNY Melon found that 33% of the 282 respondents invested in the game. Bny Wealth Cio Sinead Colton Grant told CNBC in June that family offices were rapidly investing in sports assets as a inflation hedge. In addition, while the teams were more likely to have equity equity bets in large family offices, investors are also prepared for sports-related assets such as business and hospitality. “You have got media rights in addition to the wider franchise interest. You have got real estate around the stadium like a broader complex,” he said. “There are many strands that are coming together, to provide that semi-effect.” Investing in sports pics and shovels also comes with a low barrier to entry. Buying betting or ski resort on a strength-training app costs a fraction of what happens to buy equity stake in a multivio-dollar sports team. While many family offices are unknown when talking about specific games, the Chafetz Group has built a pickle portfolio. Launched by Richard Chafetz, the founder of the Chicago-based family office, the Family Office in Chicago not only owns the pickle team St. Louis Shock, but also invested in at least four pickle-centered companies, including a pickletel, a pickle, a pickle construction company and dupiR, which offers a live rating of pickle matches. The billionaire Blitzer, the first person of equity in all five major men’s sports leagues, has invested in a group of sports startups this year, including fantasy life, a sports betting media firm, and a series of social clubs for ballrs, racket sports. Blitzer told CNBC in 2023 that the sports team holds its value due to limited supply, receiving the related investment opportunities. “They are making none of them, and they are growing,” he said at that year’s CNBC X boardroom game plan summit. “They are not only growing on their current fan basis. They are creating new fans to create new revenue currents.” Explanation: To clarify this article, it has been updated that the Sinead Colton grant is a cio on bny money.
