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- Sports Media Rights Shatter $60B Barrier — Who’s Cashing In?
Sports Media Rights Shatter $60B Barrier — Who’s Cashing In?
Sports media just hit a record $60B, as streaming giants and investors race to own the world’s most valuable entertainment asset.
Good morning, ! This week we’re looking at how the Sports Media rights global value has surpassed $60B for the first time, Apollo Sports capital becomes the largest shareholder of Atletico Madrid at a €2.5B valuation and the Sports Analytics Market is expected to reach a global value of $29B growing at a CAGR of +20.7%.
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MEDIA & SPORTS
Streaming Strikes Gold
The sports media rights market just sprinted past $60 billion for the first time, per Houlihan Lokey, with projections hitting $67 billion by 2026. After COVID-19’s $41.1B dip, rights values are rebounding faster than a Steph Curry fast break—thanks to digital streaming, global audience expansion, and mega-events like the Paris Olympics and UEFA Euro 2024. The NFL still owns the throne at $12.6B, triple the Premier League’s $4.2B. Yet, properties like UFC and Formula 1 prove that digital-first strategies can turn niche into prime time. Call it what it is: the intersection of sports and tech has become the world’s most lucrative field of play. (More)
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Who are the biggest private equity investors in the US? See the top 250 shaping the market.
Discover the most influential private equity investors in the United States, ranked by the total enterprise value of their US portfolio companies.
In this report, you’ll find in-depth insights into investment trends, sector shifts, and regional dynamics that define US private equity today. Highlights include:
Where the most active investors rank — with Blackstone, KKR & Apollo leading at $446bn combined
Which sectors dominate — with TMT well ahead, followed by Services and Science & Health
How concentrated the market is — the top 25 firms manage nearly half of total US 250 EV
How US investment is shifting across regions
A differentiated view of market power, scale, and deal momentum
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INVESTOR CORNER
Private Equity Scores Again
Apollo Sports Capital just became the majority shareholder of Atlético de Madrid, valuing the club at a reported €2.5B. The deal includes local heavyweights Gil and Cerezo sticking around in leadership — think: new capital, old playbook. The prize? A shiny Ciudad del Deporte complex next to the Riyadh Air Metropolitano, pitched as a sports-meets-community mega hub.
Unlike your typical multi-club roll-up, this marks Apollo’s flagship control deal in European football. It also expands their sports portfolio beyond tennis (Mutua Madrid Open, Miami Open). Regulatory approval is pending, but completion is expected by early 2026.
Zoom out: PE isn’t just chasing EBITDA anymore. It’s betting on community adjacency and the brand halo of legacy clubs to compound long-term value. Investors will want to watch how Apollo turns stadium concrete into monetizable fan love. (More)
ENTREPRENEURS
Lando Norris’ Quadrant: From Twitch Streams to Strategic Exit
When McLaren F1 driver Lando Norris launched Quadrant in 2020, it looked like another athlete-led merch and gaming experiment. Five years later, it’s a lifestyle-meets-media brand with a seven-figure investment round, a creator collective, and a majority acquisition by Veloce Media Group in July 2025.
Norris retains a >20% stake and became a shareholder in Veloce, which runs esports teams and youth-focused content channels. The deal structure gives Quadrant scale while Norris keeps upside. With ~6.9M followers across platforms, Quadrant is more than a vanity project—it’s a case study in building community-first IP at the intersection of motorsport, gaming, and culture.
There’s also a caution: despite its reach, Quadrant posted ~£405K negative equity in 2023, underscoring how hype and followers don’t always equal financial health.
Bottom line: Quadrant shows what happens when athletes build ecosystems, not just endorse products. The right media partner can convert fan affinity into infrastructure—and potential exits. (More)
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TECH & INFRASTRUCTURE
The Sports Analytics Gold Rush
The sports analytics market is forecasted to grow from $5.5B in 2025 to $29.8B by 2034, expanding at a 20.7% CAGR, per Precedence Research. For context: that’s faster than global SaaS and nearly on par with AI infrastructure.
Why the surge? Three converging factors:
Performance arms race across pro leagues, where teams are investing in biomechanics, wearables, and real-time data to gain marginal gains.
Fan personalization driving B2B2C tools for fantasy, betting, and content targeting.
Valuation pressure forcing leagues, teams, and investors to justify spend with measurable ROI—enter analytics.
Private equity and strategics are already circling. Expect acquisitions in niche verticals (e.g. scouting platforms, injury prevention, betting optimization) to intensify. The market's scale now justifies platform plays.
Bottom line: As data moves from backend to boardroom, sports analytics is no longer just a coaching tool, it’s an enterprise asset class. (More)
eSPORTS
Malaysia Levels Up in Esports
Malaysia’s esports scene isn’t playing games anymore—it’s winning them. Deloitte’s 2025 “Let’s Play!” report shows 82% of Malaysians now interact with esports content, and 49% watched a professional event in the last six months. That puts esports just behind soccer in national fandom, ahead of basketball, tennis, and motorsports. The audience? Young, 88% Gen Z or Millennials, digitally native, and plugged into mobile gaming ecosystems like Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and PUBG Mobile. Fueled by YouTube, TikTok, and government support, esports is now a mainstream media category—not a subculture. For brands, this is a high-velocity market where engagement beats exposure every time. (More)
TWEET OF THE WEEK
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Colin Powell