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Part of the appeal is that these assets share the same \u201chistorically low correlation to the broader market\u201d that makes sports teams attractive with stability rooted in \u201cthe value ascribed to unique and unscripted content, non-discretionary consumer spending, and recurring and resilient cash flows.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n<\/section>\n\n
The sector is also benefiting from a major structural shift from the institutionalization of sports and entertainment financing.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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\u201cHistorically, sports franchises were financed through traditional bank debt,\u201d Affolter says, but lending restrictions have created \u201ca significant funding gap within the sports industry.\u201d With valuations climbing, he adds, \u201cmajor North American leagues have started allowing private capital solutions to provide liquidity within a market we view as undercapitalized.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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For investors, this evolution opens a previously closed door. \u201cEntry points have now opened up into a historically inaccessible asset class,\u201d Affolter says, calling it \u201can impactful diversification tool\u201d for long-term portfolios.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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And investments in these industries is supported by the cash flow enjoyed by many of its businesses thanks to the loyalty of fans.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n<\/section>\n\n
\u201cBeing a sports, music or entertainment fan comes with personal connections,\u201d Affolter says, \u201cand that loyalty can translate into long-term, recurring revenue streams.\u201d In sports, this means media rights, sponsorships, and game-day sales locked in by multi-year contracts. In music, subscription-based streaming has become \u201ca utility-like expense in households,\u201d he notes, with fans both rediscovering old favorites and discovering new ones.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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Media rights and IP monetization, have a powerful effect on valuations.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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\u201cWe\u2019ve seen the average annual value and the length of contracts increase significantly due to the growing demand for live unscripted content,\u201d Affolter explains.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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As for overlooked niches, he points to youth sports as one of the most promising growth areas. The $40 billion market involves \u201c60 million children playing sports\u201d and is \u201cless likely to be impacted\u201d in downturns since parents tend to cut other expenses first.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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It\u2019s not a space for short-term plays, though.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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\u201cSimilar to most investments in the private markets, we believe this is a core, long-term growth strategy,\u201d Affolter says. Liquidity will \u201cvary significantly deal by deal\u201d depending on terms and structure, but for those willing to hold, the rewards can be compelling.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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\u201cSports, media and entertainment assets offer attractive risk-adjusted returns, historically low correlation to traditional asset classes, and the potential to build durable portfolios that can withstand broader market cycles,\u201d he concludes.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n
\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.investmentnews.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mark Affolter, co-head of Sports, Media, and Entertainment at Ares, shares insights. When investors think about sports, their mind might jump straight to owning a team or buying a stake in a league. While deals such as the record $10 billion acquisition of the Lakers by billionaire Mark Walter might grab the headlines, Mark Affolter, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1955610,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[337180,24624,343123],"class_list":["post-1955609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-ares","tag-investing","tag-sports-media-and-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Scoring-big-with-investment-in-the-untapped-sports-media-and.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1955609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1955609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1955609\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1955610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1955609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1955609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1955609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}