Liverpool and LA Lakers deals set new bar for sport investment
In one week Fenway Sports Group (FSG) sold 38 per cent of Liverpool to a consortium led by Amit Bhatia that also includes Jeff Bezos and Eduardo Saverin at a £5.5bn valuation, and former Disney chief Bob Iger and Donald Trump-linked Josh Kushner agreed to buy the LA Lakers for £9bn.
These deals are massive, but what really stands out is the people involved. Money has flowed into sports for decades from investors looking for status and returns. But these investors are different having already built consumer technology and media businesses at scale and now regard sports franchises in the same way.
On one hand these moves are about visibility; the NBA’s $76bn media rights agreement with Disney, NBC and Amazon provides a decade of guaranteed cash flow on top of a potential growth asset. And beyond that there’s an unmatched customer base because of fan loyalty.
In the case of the LA Lakers, the team is a content engine, with at least 82 games in each season producing continuous programming combined with venue, retail, hospitality, sponsorship and fan data. Iger spent over two decades turning Disney’s brand into recurring revenues, an approach that has not previously been fully applied to a franchise of this calibre.
LA Lakers setting bar
Liverpool have far fewer match days, which makes the commercial gap wider and the opportunity more nuanced. The club has a revenue of £700m but less than half of that came from the commercial sector.
Both Bezos and Saverin have spent their careers building direct-to-consumer business at scale and Bhatia brings in over two decades of hands-on football ownership experience – in this case, FSG retains ownership and operational control.
There is more money available to invest in sports assets than there are assets worth buying. It’s not a question of who can pay, but who can operate and generate value. More sports will be evaluated like any other consumer or media business but this shift did not begin with the LA Lakers or Liverpool deals.
The sector has been maturing for decades through rising media rights packages, business management and institutional capital. These two deals therefore establish a benchmark for others to compare themselves to.
Shahid Khan is a senior partner and global head of media, entertainment, sports and culture at Arthur D. Little.