Sports investment moves beyond trophy assets to tech, data and the fan economy

Investment in sport is becoming increasingly sophisticated as capital moves beyond the acquisition of teams and traditional sporting rights into the technology, data, infrastructure and consumer businesses that help owners commercialise their audiences, according to new analysis from Investec Bank plc (Investec) ahead of its upcoming UK Sports Summit next week (1 October).

The FTSE 100 international bank and wealth manager will bring together investors, corporates, rights-holders and decision-makers from across the UK sports ecosystem, exploring how sport is evolving as an investable asset class and where the next wave of commercial value could be created across teams, leagues, events, technology, infrastructure, fitness, nutrition, and equipment.

The conference comes as the global sports market is projected to grow by almost 45% between 2025 and 2030.¹ The conference will see representatives from Ares, Active Partners, British Esports, Clara Vista, Global Sports Group (GSG), IBM, the NFL, Scottish Event Campus (SEC), and Oliver Wyman speaking to the key themes identified by Investec.

Investec says the sports investment market is broadening as investors look for businesses with more repeatable revenues. Investment activity in sport-adjacent media and entertainment businesses grew at an annual rate of 7.1% between 2007 and 2022, compared with 3.1% for core sport and services.²

“The UK is part of a global fanbase which streams and attends multiple British sports fixtures and events each year. There’s also growing participation in sports whether exercising or competing which increases the potential wallet share within UK Sports. It’s this combination of watching and playing sports which is creating multiple growth opportunities looking for investment”, said Oliver Cardigan, Head of Consumer & Sports M&A at Investec's UK Investment Bank.

The UK opportunity

Investec, which has a strong heritage of supporting sport through sponsorships and partnerships across golf, football, rugby, hockey, cricket, snow polo, among others argues that the UK sports economy is investable because it is not a single market. It offers a spectrum of exposures, from scarce rights and marquee assets to operating platforms in participation, venues, fan engagement, agencies and equipment. Each carries a different source of value: some depend on scarcity and global relevance; others on frequency and brand-led consumer demand.^{1, 2, 5, 6}

This matters because “sports investment” should not be treated as a single asset class. Trophy assets may offer scarcity value and long-term appreciation, while operating businesses can offer more conventional routes to growth, margin improvement and international expansion. The most compelling opportunities sit where demand is durable, rights or customer relationships are defensible, and capital can accelerate the model without distorting the sport.^{2, 6, 7}

“According to Investec’s analysis, the UK has the ingredients to matter in this transition: global sporting relevance, deep heritage, major venues, a sophisticated leisure market and a large base of active consumers. The opportunity is not to financialise sport indiscriminately, but to back models that strengthen the product, deepen the customer relationship and turn passion-led demand into durable commercial value”, Oliver Cardigan added.

Unlocking the potential of the participation economy

Participation is the most repeatable behaviour in the sports economy. Watching creates attention; playing and training create habit. That habit supports spend across access, coaching, equipment, recovery, technology and community.⁵

“Our analysis shows that the investment opportunity is to own more of that participation wallet. Where there is already a trusted relationship between platform and fan base, there is a possibility of extending naturally into adjacent needs. Developing recurring customer ecosystems is where there’s an opportunity to increase spend per customer and retention”, said Cardigan.

The Global Wellness Institute estimates the UK's physical activity market to be US$58.4bn in 2024, making it the third-largest market globally. The UK’s global market position therefore gives it depth, relevance and investable scale.⁵

The technology opportunity

Technology is becoming the operating layer that determines whether sporting attention can be converted into revenue. The most valuable tools connect fragmented fan, venue and performance data so operators can price more intelligently, personalise engagement and prove commercial outcomes.^{2, 7}

While many sports assets have consumer-scale audiences, commercial infrastructure remains underdeveloped. Ticketing platforms, CRM tools and dynamic pricing can improve sponsorship yield, ticketing conversion, membership uptake and operating efficiency. The upside is less about novelty and more about disciplined execution against high-frequency fan and customer touchpoints.^{2, 7}

“For investors, the diligence question is not whether a business ‘uses AI’, but whether technology improves data quality, decision-making and scalability. Our whitepaper underlines that assets that combine scarce sporting IP with proprietary data, strong digital distribution and repeatable execution should be better placed to defend margin, prove sponsor ROI and sustain premium valuations”, Cardigan remarked.

The best technology investments will therefore sit close to revenue and workflow. They will not be abstract software themes, but embedded tools that help operators sell more effectively, understand demand, optimise capacity and reduce friction across the fan, sponsor and participant journey.^{2, 7}

Fandom as owned demand

Fandom is one of the most under-monetised assets in sport. Rights owners already generate attention, emotion and identity at scale, but too much of that value is still captured indirectly through distributors, platforms and sponsors. The next step is to convert fan intensity into owned demand: identifiable, repeatable and measurable.^{2, 3, 4, 8}

That requires a shift from audience reach to fan yield. First-party data, membership, premium access and commerce should not sit in separate silos. The investment case strengthens when they operate as one commercial engine that improves conversion, retention and lifetime value.^{2, 3, 4, 8}

The legacy model delivered reach through broadcast and platform partners. That reach remains essential, but it can leave rights owners with limited visibility on who their fans are, how they behave and what they are willing to buy. Owned channels, CRM and ticketing data create the infrastructure to price, package and personalise the relationship.^{3, 4}

Oliver Cardigan said: “According to the findings of our whitepaper, the most attractive fan propositions combine emotional loyalty with clear routes to spend. Members-only content, premium access, athlete-led storytelling and personalised offers can all increase wallet share.”

Individual sports personalities can still be powerful gateways because personal affinity translates into trust, purchase intent and global digital reach. The strongest models integrate those followers back into the underlying competition or event rather than allowing them to fragment the audience. Done well, personality-led fandom becomes a scalable monetisation layer around the core rights owner.^{3, 4}

Investment capital is reshaping UK sport

Institutional investment is already reshaping the sector. Capital is moving towards assets that combine durable demand, defensible rights or customer relationships, repeatable revenue and credible governance. The centre of gravity is shifting from scarcity alone to the quality of monetisation, control and execution.^{2, 6, 7}

English football is the clearest live example. According to CIES Sports Intelligence, 51 of the 92 clubs across the Premier League and EFL are under foreign majority ownership, while nearly two-thirds have at least one non-British shareholder; US capital is directly represented in 40 clubs, including 29 majority-owned by American investors. The investment market is therefore already international, competitive and increasingly governance-sensitive.⁹

For the UK, the prize is not to make every sporting asset institutionally investable. It is to identify the assets and platforms with the revenue quality, operating model, governance and licence to grow that long-term capital requires. That is where sport moves from passion-led demand to scalable investment value.^{2, 6, 7}