Alternative investments in sport are going through the roof

Robert Eickmeyer (PwC) presents the key findings from the 5th edition of PwC’s Global Sports Survey. This is a survey of 400+ decision-makers and insiders in the sports industry. The key questions are “Is the sports industry growing?” and “In which areas do you see an upturn?”.

In general, the respondents’ global outlook is very positive. Annual growth of 7.3 percent is expected over the next five years – with the strongest growth in the corporate values of clubs and in the sports betting sector.

The bad news: although lower growth is forecast in Germany, the arrow is still pointing clearly upwards. You can find out more about this and the growth of women’s sport, the role of ESG and the influence of technologies such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality on sport in his presentation.

What do JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have in common? – In recent months, they have all massively increased their staff in the areas of sports investment and consulting. And rightly so?

Daniel Jacob Erd (Watson Farley & Williams) explains in his impulse what opportunities there are to invest in the sports business and achieve returns. These include direct investments in clubs or leagues, whether from wealthy individuals (e.g. Tom Brady, Michael Jordan) or private equity. The possibility of financing player transfers is also particularly exciting and probably little known. Daniel recently advised a bank on this very topic, you can find out more about this and multi-club ownership models in the video here.

Leaving his secure job at Porsche to set up a football team in Germany? Sounds crazy, but Eric Reutemann did it. Since 2021, he has been following his dream and building a team in the European League of Football(ELF) with the Frankfurt Galaxy.

There are currently 17 teams from all over Europe playing in the ELF, with the German teams leading the way – Galaxy won the title in its inaugural season. Nevertheless, there is still a lot to be done on the business side and the league still needs to develop. Three pillars are particularly important for the success of Frankfurt Galaxy: Spectators, sponsors, funds, shares and investors. Nothing works without them.

However, there are a few problems to overcome – from the question of where to play, to travelling to Madrid with a 75-man squad, to the professionalization of sport in Europe. Watch the video to find out why he still believes it can be successful and how a football team can earn money.

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