Today we have the honor of interviewing a group of experienced venture capital investors from across the global sports ecosystem. The goal is to discuss the latest global trends in the world of sports investment.
Kai Bond, Partner at Courtside VC
Ibrahim Sagna, the executive chairman at Silverbacks.holdings
CiCi Bellis, Founder and General Partner at Cartan Capital
Mustafa Ghouse, Founder and General Partner at Centre Court Capital
Here are the topics that we covered during the video interview:
What major trends are currently shaping investment across the global sports ecosystem, and where do you see the strongest opportunities emerging over the next three to five years?
Professional sports teams are increasingly being viewed as a global asset class. What is driving this shift, and how do you evaluate opportunities involving teams, leagues and the businesses surrounding them?
How are artificial intelligence, data, analytics and other emerging technologies changing the types of sports companies that can be built—and the way investors assess their potential?
Which markets or categories remain underserved or underappreciated by investors? This could include women’s sports, athlete-focused businesses, emerging regions, new media models or other areas of growth.
In today’s funding environment, what separates the sports startups that can successfully raise capital and scale from those that struggle? What should founders understand about valuations, commercial traction, strategic partnerships and potential exits?
What are the do’s and don’s in the world of sports investment?
You can watch the video interview below by clicking on the Youtube link. You can also listen to the audio interview by clicking on the link at the top of the page:
Here are some of the best quotes of our conversation with Kai, CiCi, Ibrahim and Mustafa:
1. Major sports-investment trends
CiCi Bellis
“Sports has gone from being viewed as a niche investment category to becoming a much broader ecosystem.”
“Scarcity is driving much of the appreciation in sports properties. There are only so many sports assets available, while the pool of people, institutions and capital interested in them continues to expand.”
“From a venture perspective, I’m more excited about the businesses surrounding sports properties than buying the assets themselves at today’s valuations.”
“The areas I’m most excited about include the intersection of sports, health and human performance; ticketing and commerce infrastructure; new forms of distribution; proprietary sports data; and women’s sports.”
Mustafa Ghouse
“While many aspects of the sports industry are much more mature in the West—especially in the United States—India is still perhaps 10 to 15 years behind.”
“In India, we are still looking at fundamental opportunities across retail, consumer products and infrastructure. These are areas that remain early in their development.”
“The IPL is an outlier. What it has delivered over the past 17 or 18 years has been exceptional, and the rest of the Indian sports industry is now beginning to follow.”
Ibrahim Sagna
“Sports is now an asset class being invested in on every continent, across both venture capital and private equity.”
“This is one of the most exciting global products you can attach yourself to. There is something special about the global nature of sports that brings people together.”
“Scarcity, timing and global intersection are making this one of the most exciting periods in sports investment.”
Kai Bond
“There are so many avenues for investment—even within media and entertainment. You have fan engagement, sports betting, fandom, real estate projects, stadium infrastructure and entertainment districts.”
“These are no longer simply team purchases. Stadiums are hosting concerts, entertainment districts are being developed, and sports properties are becoming year-round hubs.”
“The core of sports is that people want to be connected and entertained. That is what makes this such an exciting category to invest in.”
2. Why teams are becoming a global asset class
CiCi Bellis
“Live content is one of the few things audiences still feel they need to consume in real time, with sports at the center of that.”
“We try to separate a great asset from a great investment. You can believe an asset is fantastic and will exist forever, but still conclude that its entry valuation does not offer an attractive return.”
“When evaluating teams and leagues, we look at media rights, the local market, fan engagement, sponsorship economics, league governance, revenue sharing and how much monetization remains untapped.”
“Sometimes the better investment is the technology being sold across many teams rather than ownership of a single team.”
Mustafa Ghouse
“Rights holders and distribution platforms are realizing that sports leagues and intellectual property are now global. You can sit anywhere in the world and watch the Premier League, the NBA or the NFL.”
“That is why Netflix, Amazon and other major platforms want a piece of sports. Investors believe there is still significant upside to unlock within these franchises.”
Ibrahim Sagna
“There is no industry quite like sports. You can have revenue contracts extending ten years, worth billions of dollars, divided among a limited number of teams.”
“Media rights, salary structures and real estate create highly predictable revenue streams. There are not many industries with those characteristics.”
“Self-identification creates extraordinary customer stickiness. Once someone identifies with a team, that relationship can be transferred from one generation to the next.”
“Sports is not simply about liking something or even loving it. It is about identity.”
Kai Bond
“At its core, sports provides people with identity and connects them to something meaningful. Very few things can connect people in that way.”
“People do not simply watch sports anymore. They train and invest in their health so they can continue playing the sports they love.”
3. AI, data and emerging technology
CiCi Bellis
“The more important question is whether AI is creating a real moat for the company.”
“The most compelling companies combine proprietary data, unique distribution and measurable outcomes that improve because of the technology.”
“Putting an LLM on top of publicly available data is not a defensible company.”
“The companies I find most exciting are those where AI sits underneath the product. AI itself is not the moat—the moat is usually the data, distribution and workflow beneath it.”
Ibrahim Sagna
“The core asset that AI gets to use is where the real value resides.”
“We need to be very mindful of how AI can distort reality, particularly when businesses are valued based on digital audiences and online engagement.”
“Focus on the fundamentals: What is the asset worth? What can it deliver? What intellectual property and residual value does it possess?”
Kai Bond
“The business must provide genuine value at every level—to the coaches, players, parents and fans.”
“The core question is whether the technology improves the player experience, the coaching experience or the fan experience.”
“AI will continue to have an impact, but it is usually enabling another product. It is not necessarily the entire reason we invest.”
Mustafa Ghouse
“AI has to be an enabler. It cannot be the be-all and end-all of the venture proposition.”
“As long as you are solving a fundamental problem and there is a business case around it, that remains the basis for any investment decision.”
4. Underserved and underappreciated opportunities
Mustafa Ghouse
“Women’s sports in India remain extremely untapped. The Women’s Premier League has been a success from the beginning, but not much has grown around it yet.”
“Youth sports are another completely untapped opportunity in India. It is a highly fragmented and disorganized market that we would love to see consolidate.”
“If a child becomes connected to a sport at seven, eight or nine years old, you may have that fan for life.”
“New distribution and media platforms could help the Indian sports industry grow much faster.”
CiCi Bellis
“The convergence of sports and healthcare remains underappreciated.”
“Elite athletes can be incredible early users because they demand personalization, better measurement, continuous monitoring, faster recovery and elite care.”
“Capital, talent, media and fandom are becoming increasingly borderless.”
Ibrahim Sagna
“International capital will increasingly flow into India, Saudi Arabia, Africa and Europe. That creates more choices and more opportunities for collaboration.”
“The alignment of global diasporas can translate into much larger sports-investment opportunities.”
Kai Bond
“There is an opportunity for new forms of gameplay and shorter-format sports content that reflect changing attention spans.”
“As seasons become longer and more games are added to schedules, shorter formats will increasingly have a place in the sports ecosystem.”
5. What separates startups that raise and scale
Kai Bond
“We are looking for the same things other seed investors seek: a large and growing market, an incredible founder, domain expertise and the ability to identify a trend that others do not yet see.”
“We see companies that are great businesses with excellent products and a genuine need, but they are not necessarily venture-scale opportunities.”
“Just because you have a great sports business does not mean it needs venture capital behind it.”
“The companies that achieve multibillion-dollar valuations must be pursuing very large markets.”
CiCi Bellis
“Three or four years ago, a compelling story and a massive total addressable market could sometimes drive most of a funding round. Today, investors want something more tangible.”
“Investors are looking for clearer product-market fit, a market large enough to support a venture outcome, meaningful commercial traction and strong retention.”
Ibrahim Sagna
“You have to stick to your discipline and avoid being carried away by the excitement. (..) You must determine whether the opportunity can genuinely produce a venture-scale outcome”.
“The capital-raising game is a byproduct of exits—not the reverse.”
“If you do not deliver exits and outcomes, the capital will not continue to come.”
Mustafa Ghouse
“Whether you are investing in sports technology, gaming, fitness, health or education, it still comes down to the fundamentals.”
“Founders must demonstrate that they understand first principles and have the ability to scale the business.”
“A population of 1.4 billion people may sound exciting, but who exactly are you addressing, and how are you going to monetize that audience?”
6. The dos and don’ts of sports investment
Kai Bond
“As a vertically focused investor, you may see the same pitch a hundred times. It is easy to dismiss it, but eventually that idea may work because distribution or technology has changed.”
“This job is about continuously challenging your core assumptions.”
“What we enjoy as sports fans may not be what a younger generation, another demographic or another continent wants to experience.”
“You need the intellectual honesty to understand what you have done well, what you have done wrong and why you reached those conclusions.”
“The data will ultimately tell you what is right or wrong. It is not what the investor says or what the founder says—the data is the final truth.”
“Founders need conviction, but they also need to know when to pivot.”
“You cannot always see around the corner, but you can look for the signals that tell you something is coming.”
Mustafa Ghouse
“We may believe we understand the sector because we are vertically focused and go deep, but the reality is that we do not always know.”
“You have to remain humble, continue learning and understand what consumers appreciate at any given moment.”
Ibrahim Sagna
“Investing is an art, and we have to bring in the science we have learned from other disciplines.”
“Our job is to look at what a founder brings to life and determine whether there is a predictable revenue stream, whether it can sustain itself and how we can add value.”
“One major success can make you look brilliant, but nobody sees all the bullets you took along the way.”
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