Professional athletes are by and large making more money than ever before. And as their net worths climb, they are diversifying their investment portfolios to include more ambitious and lucrative projects—such as ownership stakes in pro sports franchises and leagues.
This is not a typo. Pro athletes are, essentially, investing in other pro athletes. While they are prohibited from having stakes in team-sports leagues they represent, anything else is pretty much fair game.
Truthfully, it was only a matter of time before going down this route became standard fare athletes. Live sports continue to rank among the most reliable attention-grabbers across any industry. Between monstrous broadcast rights deals and the rise of online sports betting in the United States, franchise and club valuations just keep climbing. The same can be said for top-of-the-line-athlete salaries as a result.
So, if sports-ownership stakes are among the best return-on-investment opportunities, it makes total sense that increasingly wealthy athletes are boarding the bandwagon. But where are some of the biggest names in all of sports investing? Let’s find out.
Patricks Mahomes (NFL)
Sports Stakes Includes: Kansas City Royals (MLB), Kansas City Current (NWSL), Miami Pickleball (MLP), Sporting Kansas City (MLS), Alpine Team (F1)
We cannot confirm whether Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes has the most wide-ranging portfolio of sports investments, but he has to be pretty close.
Two things immediately stand out. First and foremost, Mahomes is definitely capitalizing on the connections he’s made while playing in the state of Missouri as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs. Three of his investments are in local organizations, two of which are soccer leagues. Will these stakes hold now that there’s a chance the Chiefs’ next stadium could cross into Kansas state lines? We’ll have to wait and see.
That brings us to the second-biggest takeaway: Mahomes is definitely ahead of the curve when it comes to emerging sports markets. Both F1 and pickleball are avant garde products in the United States. On top of that, the demand for women’ soccer continues to increase year-over-year, which makes his Kansas City Current stake a potentially lucrative one, too.
Naomi Osaka (Tennis)
Sports Stakes Includes: Miami Pickleball Club (MLP), North Carolina Courage (NWSL)
Naomi Osaka has something in common with Mahomes: She’s invested in leagues on the ascent.
The 28-year-old, who now ranks the 17th-best women’s tennis player in the world, has a stake in perhaps the fastest-rising sports in the United States: pickleball. It remains to be seen whether it will catch on at a mainstream-fan level, but the accessibility of pickleball as a recreational activity bodes well for future interest.
Investing in the North Carolina Courage seems like a great move as well. They are now the 11th-most valuable women’s soccer club in the world, according to Forbes.
Kevin Durant (NBA)
Sports Stakes Includes: Brooklyn Aces (MLP), NY/NJ Gotham FC (NWSL), Philadelphia Union
Sensing a theme yet? All three of the included athletes have stakes in pickleball and women’s soccer clubs. Kevin Durant’s involvement, specifically, is considered a pretty big endorsement of the strategy. He’s known as one of the savvier investors among active athletes.
If you’re wondering why there’s such a focus on emerging markets, you’re not alone. And unfortunately, the answer isn’t particularly sexy.
So many pro sports franchises are now multibillion-dollar operations. That makes it difficult for millionaires—and even hundred millionaires like Durant—to get meaningful stakes in leagues such as the NFL, NBA, MLB and even NHL.
Soccer, pickleball, Formula 1 racing, etc. are all more accessible (i.e. affordable) opportunities for those who don’t have net worths in the billions. Indeed, if these leagues pan out, these are the types of investments that could vault certain athletes like Durant into the billionaire stratosphere. For KD, in particular, this actually feels like the endgame, since has dreams of helping bring an NBA franchise back to Seattle.
Lewis Hamilton (Formula 1)
Sports Stakes Includes: Denver Broncos (NFL)
Landing an ownership stake in the NFL, no matter what size, is not easy. Leave it to Lewis Hamilton to establish himself as one of the exceptions.
The 41-year-old is the face of F1 and has the salary to show for it. He is currently in the first season of a two-year, $120 million deal with Ferrari. Yet, his entry into NFL ownership predates this type of base salary.
Hamilton joined a group of investors who purchased the Denver Broncos nearly a half-decade ago at a $4.65 billion valuation. It is not entirely known how large of a stake he holds, but it’s safe to say his investment is paying off. Current estimates have the Broncos valued at $7.2 billion—a roughly 55 percent increase over their purchase price.
LeBron James (NBA)
Sports Stakes Includes: Boston Red Sox (MLB), Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL), Liverpool FC (Premier League), RFK Racing (NASCAR)
In the event you didn’t know that LeBron James is the wealthiest active pro athlete in existence, well, now you do!
Projections of his net worth vary, but he became the first active athlete to have a billion-dollar net worth a few years ago. Estimates from numerous outlets suggest he’s presently worth around $1.3 billion.
This figure is reflected in his investments. He has two ownership stakes in organizations from one of the four major North American leagues, as well as a share of a Premier League powerhouse that, as a franchise, owns a valuation of $5.65 billion.
Much like Durant, LeBron also has aspirations of owning an NBA team someday after he retires from the Association. Given the rising franchise values in all the major leagues, people openly question whether an athlete can ever again have the wealth to carve out a majority stake in a modern-day organization. Many seem to think the answer is no. But if there’s anyone with current net worth and investment portfolio to prove the naysayers wrong, it’s LeBron.
