🔊 CVC Makes A $14 Billion Bet On Sports

This week, Luxembourg-based CVC Capital Partners announced the formation of its $14 billion sports-focused fund called Global Sports Group (not to be confused with the agency of the same name).

Marc Allera, a veteran media and communication executive, will lead Global Sports Group along with Michelle Wilson and George Barrios, former WWE executives who also run the investment firm Isos Capital Management.

According to Sportico, the fund will consolidate CVC’s sports holdings and double down on opportunities in global leagues and teams as new media models, mobile-first consumption, and women’s sports continue to surge.

CVC’s portfolio already spans some of the world’s biggest properties, including:

Why Does This Matter?

CVC has been a pioneer in sports investing.

Back in 2006, they bought into Formula 1 for $2 billion and sold it to Liberty Media a decade later for $8 billion.

Now, with this new $14 billion fund, they’re making one of the boldest moves we’ve seen in the space.

Global Sport Group is the largest sports-focused fund ever created and a clear sign that sports have matured into a formal, institutionalized asset class.

For years, sports investments were fragmented.
A fund buys into a league.
Another takes a piece of a tournament or expansion team.
Each bet stood alone, and deals were siloed.

CVC is flipping that model.

By bundling assets together, they can negotiate from a position of strength with broadcasters, cross-sell global sponsors across multiple properties, share governance, tech, and data, and expand globally.

They’re essentially turning sports into a portfolio company, where the whole is more valuable than the parts.

Sports valuations are at all-time highs. Media rights are volatile. And institutional capital keeps flooding in. CVC is betting that consolidation is the only way to keep generating outsized returns.

My guess? This strategy won’t be unique for long. We’ve already seen prominent owners like Josh Blitzer execute similar roll-ups globally.

But the real opportunity may be in what hasn’t been bundled yet: women’s sports, emerging leagues, and the tech infrastructure around fan engagement, streaming, and betting.

These assets appear to be the most undervalued and mispriced.

Nonetheless, sports aren’t side bets anymore. They’re a core asset class. And the biggest returns will go to the investors who learn how to bundle, stack, and scale them.

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• Magnolia Hill Partners Launches Momentous Sports. Momentous Sports, a new investment firm targeting sports and real estate properties, was officially launched by Magnolia Hill Partners this week. The group includes investors such as former NFL stars John Elway, Tim Tebow, Blake Bortles, and Chick-fil-A CEO Andrew Cathy. Momentous is starting with middle-market US opportunities, including soccer, minor league baseball, and minor league hockey. Its first flagship initiative is Sporting Jax, a new professional men’s and women’s USL soccer club in Jacksonville, Florida. Momentous will lead the development of mixed-use real estate around the venue once the stadium is completed (more here).

• DealMaker Officially Launches DealMaker Sports. DealMaker, the leading digital capital-raising platform, announced the launch of DealMaker Sports, a dedicated division pioneering an era of fan-led ownership in sports. This launch is an expansion of DealMaker's platform, now built for teams, leagues, and athletes to raise capital directly from the communities that support them. With a track record that includes iconic teams raising capital, such as the Green Bay Packers and the Oakland Ballers, DealMaker is doubling down on a vision where fans don't just watch the game, they own part of it (more here).

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• Unrivaled Basketball Adds Two New Teams For Upcoming Season. Unrivaled is adding two more clubs, Breeze Basketball Club and Hive Basketball Club, for its second season. The league announced the expansion this week, saying it also will bring in six players for a season-long development pool and add a fourth night of games. That brings the league to eight teams and 54 players, up from six teams and 36 players who competed in its inaugural eight-week season that wrapped up in March (more here).

This week’s guest on the Vetted Sports podcast is Jay Li.

Jay Li is the CEO and co-founder of the Asian University Basketball League (AUBL).

AUBL is a pan-regional intercollegiate basketball league spotlighting Asia’s most prestigious university basketball programs, anchored by top teams from Greater China, Japan, and Korea.

In this episode, we discuss:
‣ The inception story of AUBL & the gap he saw in Asian basketball
‣ Working with investors and advisors such as Yao Ming and Joe Tsai
‣ His long-term vision for the league

Check out the full episode here: Apple | Spotify | YouTube