Seattle, WA – September 07: George Kitle # 85 of the 49ers of San Francisco famous with fans and teammates after marked a touch against the Seattle Seahawks during the match at Lumen Field on September 07, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Robin Alam / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Icon sportswire | Icon sportswire | Getty images
A version of this article appeared for the first time in Inside Wealth Newsletter of CNBC with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the investor and consumer with high shuttle. Register To receive future editions, directly in your reception box.
While ultra-rich families and their investment companies invest in fewer startups, they still demand a piece of sport action.
According to a new survey by Goldman Sachs, 25% of family offices have invested in sports or related assets such as ticket office or arenas, and another quarter interested in doing so.
Last week, Julia Koch, the widow of billionaire David Koch, and her family agreed to buy a minority participation in the NFL New York giants, according to Bloomberg. In June, the CEO and billionaire of Guggenheim Partners, Mark Walter, concluded an agreement to buy a majority participation in the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA in an evaluation of $ 10 billion. And a trio of families in the bay region, whose venture capital Vinod Khosla, bought a 6% stake in the 49ers of San Francisco in May.
However, while the female leagues and emerging sports like pickleball collected more buzz, investors did not make up for the survey, according to the bank’s investigation. Only 19% of 245 Family offices said they had invested or wanted to invest in the established women’s leagues, while 71% expressed their interest in major male leagues. A smaller percentage (16%) indicated investments or previous interests in the emerging leagues of women or the minor leagues of men.
There are high -level examples, with a cohort of billionaire investors obtaining three new WNBA team franchises in June. However, these investors are betting on the future growth of actions rather than on cash flows for a financial return, as reported by Alex Sherman of CNBC previously reported.
Meena Flynn of Goldman Sachs told Inside Wealth that family offices, which invest in the long term, can afford to be patient with the property of the team, regardless of the type of sports in which they are.
“This really combines their interests from the passion point of view as well as the creation of long-term value,” she said.
In addition, families consider sports as hedges against inflation, as they have several sources of income such as streaming rights and ticket office, according to Flynn,, Co-head of Goldman Sachs by Global Private Wealth Management.
Many owners of major leagues develop their sports empires by investing in other sports and related companies, such as David Blitzer of Blackstone, the first person to have equity in the five American male sports leagues. Only this year, his Bolt family office ventures supported Fantasy Life, a sports betting company; Ballers, a chain of social clubs for racket sports; and the operator of the club Padel Haus.