Sportico Brings Industry Leaders to Invest in Sports New York

The sports industry won’t stop growing.

NFL teams are as valued as high as $10 billion, while the NBA’s winningest franchise is up for sale mere months after winning its 18th championship. Investment into women’s sports continues to explode as soccer clubs are selling control shares for nine figures and young phenoms ink endorsement deals unheard of just a few years ago. Even youth sports are seeing an influx of institutional investors.

The people and companies that have supercharged the industry are convening at Sportico’s Invest in Sports New York event at the Nasdaq headquarters in midtown Manhattan.

Attendees will hear from David Rubenstein, the newest controlling owner in MLB who has taken the reins of his hometown Baltimore Orioles. The Carlyle Group founder will discuss how his unique journey from law to government to managing a global investment firm with $435 billion in assets prepared him for a new challenge: competing with the New York Yankees, among others.

Jonathan Kraft may be best-known as president of the New England Patriots, but he also serves on crucial committees of the world’s richest sports league. He’ll speak about preparing the NFL and its fourth most valuable franchise for a future with greater media fragmentation.

An old foil of the Kraft family, Eli Manning, will talk about his aspirations to own an NFL team. The world sees the two-time Super Bowl champion as part of the “Manningcast” for Monday Night Football, but away from the game, he also manages a portfolio for Brand Velocity Partners. The former New York Giants quarterback will impart wisdom about how his skills under center have translated to the boardroom.

Across the NHL, owners have no doubt taken notice of Sportico’s newest valuations for their clubs, as the average value rose 37% over the past year. One man has navigated the league’s sometimes fraught journey to its current heights—Gary Bettman, the longest serving commissioner in sports history. He’ll reflect on 31 years balancing the interests of hockey’s owners, players and fans.

Historically, the owners’ club has been a homogenous one. Though some efforts to diversify have borne fruit, for many teams it’s a slow process. At Invest, owners in different leagues will discuss the value of diversity in the ranks, explain why said value has been overlooked and provide proof of its impact to the industry. One owner who can testify about the strength of diversity: Kynisca founder Michele Kang, who not only owns three high-profile women’s soccer clubs but is investing in the science of women’s sports.

College sports have been upended by the dual forces of conference realignment and the explosion of NIL. The potential House v. NCAA settlement hovers above the campuses, and institutional investors will talk about their role in this changing landscape.

Of course, it’s hard to think about the future of the sports industry without asking where the next pool of money will come from. Wealthy individuals are giving way to private equity and sovereign funds, and those entities bring greater political scrutiny than the sports world is accustomed to. Panels about sovereign wealth funds and PE firms will inspire conversations about the next stage of industry investment.

Sportico’s event is sponsored by Nasdaq, which is hosting the conference, Inner Circle Sports LLC, Proskauer, Arctos, Omega Sports Holding, GameChanger by Dick’s Sporting Goods, XO and Next League.