Private equity invaded sports in 2021 with nearly $2 billion in deals, and the NBA was in high demand
U.S. stocks made a ton of money for investors in a decade-long bull market that lasted through the end of last year.
But those returns pale in comparison to the windfall from sports investing, particularly in the National Basketball Association.
The NBA has the highest price return compared to other leagues, as basketball's globalization has expanded to other markets, including its more than $5 billion China operation and the newly launched $1 billion NBA Africa venture.
Between 2002 and 2021, the average price return for an NBA team was 1,057% compared to 458% returns on the S&P 500, according to estimates from PitchBook.
But other sports offered solid returns, too. PitchBook estimates Major League Baseball clubs offered a 669% price return from 2002 to 2021, and the National Hockey League returned 467%.
Now, private equity investors are rushing in for a piece of the action. PitchBook's 2021 private equity breakdown estimated over $1 trillion in total deals last year, and roughly $2 billion of that was spent purchasing equity stakes in U.S. sports franchises.
Investors are attracted to “the overall professionalization of sports,” said Wylie Fernyhough, PitchBook's private equity lead analyst.
“It was certainly the beginning,” Fernyhough said of PE sports deals in 2021. “We're going to see a lot more deals going forward.”
NBA teams getting growth capital
Sports leagues including the NBA and Major League Soccer started allowing private equity to invest early in the pandemic. But Major League Baseball was the first league to eye private equity money.
In a 2019 interview with CNBC, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred explained, “Franchise values have escalated, the capital structures in the clubs have become more complicated. The idea of having a fund that would essentially be a passive equity investor in a club or clubs is one that is helpful in terms of facilitating sale transactions in clubs.”
Firms including Arctos Sports, Dyal Capital Partners, RedBird Capital and Sixth Street established funds to buy minority shares in teams in 2021, attracted to the economic moat around sports leagues, including the increasing value of media rights and and global expansion.
This is where the NBA is most attractive. Tennis, motorsports, and golf are considered the most global sports, but basketball is creeping up with its growth outside the U.S.
In 2019, the NBA announced the Basketball Africa League, run by its NBA Africa entity. Friction remains from a 2019 dispute involving team executive Daryl Morey, but NBA China is still operating, and games are streaming on Tencent. The league is targeting India's massive population of more than one billion, too.
In addition, the league's WNBA operation lured a $75 million raise last week that reportedly values the league at $1 billion. The WNBA will use those funds to grow the women's game.
Factoring in the established global footprint and “younger fans on average,” Fernyhough called buying minority stakes in NBA clubs a “gigantic” opportunity.
“I think there are a lot of reasons to be bullish on the NBA,” he added.
Chris Lencheski, chairman of private equity consulting company Phoenicia, agrees.
“The NBA has a clear, more straightforward, and well-defined path to a global consumer than just about every other major league that's stick and ball related,” he said.
“And eventually,” Lencheski added, “within the next 20 years, you'll have supersonic travel, which will allow an NBA team to travel within three hours anywhere in the world. So, it's easy to see a Madrid versus the New York Knicks. And the NBA, by the nature of their product, is perfectly suited for that.”
在持续到去年年底的长达十年的牛市中，美国股市为投资者赚了很多钱。
但与体育投资的意外收获相比，这些回报相形见绌，尤其是在美国国家篮球协会。
与其他联赛相比，NBA 的价格回报率最高，因为篮球的全球化已经扩展到其他市场，包括其超过 50 亿美元的中国业务和新推出的 10 亿美元的 NBA 非洲合资企业。
根据 PitchBook 的估计，从 2002 年到 2021 年，NBA 球队的平均价格回报率为 1,057%，而标准普尔 500 指数的回报率为 458%。
但其他运动也提供了可观的回报。 PitchBook 估计，从 2002 年到 2021 年，美国职业棒球大联盟俱乐部的价格回报率为 669%，而全国冰球联盟的回报率为 467%。
现在，私募股权投资者正争先恐后地分一杯羹。 PitchBook 的 2021 年私募股权细分估计去年交易总额超过 1 万亿美元，其中大约 20 亿美元用于购买美国体育特许经营权的股权。
PitchBook 的私募股权首席分析师 Wylie Fernyhough 表示，投资者被“体育的整体专业化”所吸引。
“这当然是一个开始，”Fernyhough 谈到 2021 年的体育体育交易时说。“我们将看到更多的交易向前发展。”
NBA球队获得成长资本
包括 NBA 和美国职业足球大联盟在内的体育联盟开始允许私募股权在疫情初期进行投资。但美国职业棒球大联盟是第一个关注私募股权资金的联盟。
MLB 总裁罗伯曼弗雷德在 2019 年接受 CNBC 采访时解释说：“特许经营价值已经升级，俱乐部的资本结构变得更加复杂。拥有一个基本上是一个或多个俱乐部的被动股权投资者的基金的想法有助于促进俱乐部的销售交易。”
包括 Arctos Sports、Dyal Capital Partners、RedBird Capital 和 Sixth Street 在内的公司成立了基金，以在 2021 年购买球队的少数股权，这些公司被体育联盟周围的经济护城河所吸引，包括不断增加的媒体权利价值和全球扩张。
这是NBA最吸引人的地方。网球、赛车运动和高尔夫被认为是最具全球性的运动，但篮球在美国以外的地区正在迅速发展。
2019 年，NBA 宣布成立非洲篮球联赛，由其 NBA 非洲实体运营。 2019 年球队高管达里尔·莫雷（Daryl Morey）的纠纷仍然存在摩擦，但 NBA 中国仍在运营，游戏正在腾讯上进行。该联盟的目标也是印度超过 10 亿的庞大人口。
此外，联盟的 WNBA 运营上周吸引了 7500 万美元的加薪，据报道该联盟的估值为 10 亿美元。 WNBA 将利用这些资金来发展女子比赛。
考虑到已建立的全球足迹和“平均年轻的球迷”，Fernyhough 称购买 NBA 俱乐部的少数股权是一个“巨大的”机会。
“我认为有很多理由看好NBA，”他补充道。
私募股权咨询公司 Phoenicia 的董事长 Chris Lencheski 对此表示赞同。
“与几乎所有其他与球杆和球相关的大联盟相比，NBA 拥有一条清晰、更直接、更明确的通往全球消费者的道路，”他说。
“最终，”伦切斯基补充道，“在接下来的 20 年内，你将拥有超音速旅行，这将使一支 NBA 球队能够在三小时内到达世界任何地方。因此，很容易看到马德里队对阵纽约尼克斯队。而 NBA，就其产品的性质而言，非常适合这一点。”
