Shawn Bradley 
By the end of 2025, sport is no longer only about trophies and bragging rights; it has firmly become an asset class. From private equity funds buying European football clubs to local investors backing sports apps in Nairobi or Lagos, money is flowing into pitches, platforms and players. Sports assets now mix the stability of real estate with the upside of media and technology, and in 2026 this investment logic will matter even more, as big institutional investors, family offices and celebrities look for a deeper piece of that action.
But where exactly does that money go, and how do investors know if it is working? To answer that, you have to follow the cash across four major areas: clubs, technology, infrastructure and sponsorship-driven revenue streams, including sports betting.
Clubs As Financial Assets, Not Just Hometown Pride
One of the clearest trends is the rise of private capital buying stakes in major clubs. Apollo’s recent move to acquire a majority stake in Atlético Madrid at a valuation reported around €2-2.5 billion is just one example of how global funds now treat top teams as long-term cash machines, not just passion projects. The attraction is simple: recurring income from media rights, sponsorships, ticket sales and merchandising, combined with global fan bases that rarely shrink even when results wobble.
To judge whether these club investments are paying off, investors watch a familiar set of financial metrics: year-on-year revenue growth, profitability or EBITDA margins, wage-to-turnover ratios, debt levels, and the estimated market value of the franchise itself. In football, regular UEFA Champions League participation or strong domestic performance can unlock richer TV deals and better sponsors, which feed back into those numbers. When club valuations rise faster than the money spent acquiring them and improving the squad, the investment case looks healthy.
Startups And Sports Tech: Betting On Data And Screens
Beyond the stadium, another stream of money is chasing sports technology. Even in a tough global venture market, sports tech investments in 2024 were on track to cross roughly $2 billion, almost matching the previous year despite wider VC slowdown. Investors are backing tools that track athlete performance, sell tickets and merchandise online, manage grassroots competitions, and keep fans glued to their phones on matchday.
Here, the return story looks different. Instead of matchday revenue, the focus is on monthly recurring revenue, user growth, churn rates and customer acquisition costs. A startup that helps clubs analyse player data, or a platform that manages amateur leagues, will be judged on how quickly it can grow its user base while keeping costs under control. If the product can plug directly into big leagues or global fan platforms, the upside becomes more interesting, as exit options through acquisition become more realistic.
Infrastructure: Stadiums, Training Centres And Sports Districts
The third bucket is concrete and steel. Stadiums, training centres and surrounding “sports districts” are attracting capital because they mix sports with real estate. Projects like Atlético Madrid’s planned Ciudad del Deporte, a large sports and entertainment development near the club’s stadium, show how investors think beyond the 90 minutes on the pitch to hotels, retail, events and conferences spread across the week.
Returns in these deals are often measured over decades. Investors look at event occupancy rates, lease income from shops and restaurants, hospitality sales on matchdays, and the overall impact on land values around the complex. When done well, a stadium becomes an anchor for an entire neighbourhood, not just a place where fans gather twice a month to shout at referees.
Sponsorship, Media And The Measurement Puzzle
For brands, one of the main reasons to invest in sport is exposure. Sponsorship deals with clubs, leagues and athletes are still growing, and surveys show a large share of CMOs plan to increase sponsorship budgets in the coming seasons. At the same time, around three-quarters of marketers admit they struggle to calculate the true return on these sponsorships.
To bring order to the chaos, agencies and analytics firms use a mix of metrics. Media exposure value estimates how much equivalent advertising a brand gets from logos on kits, TV screen time and mentions across social channels. Brand-lift studies try to measure changes in awareness or favourability before and after a campaign. More advanced models track website visits, sign-ups, or sales tied to specific sponsorship activations, so that ROI can be linked to real business outcomes, not just impressions. In practice, investors and club owners now expect detailed dashboards: how many people saw the shirt sponsor last weekend, how many scanned QR codes in the stadium, and how many new paying users signed up during the last campaign. The sponsor is buying attention; the investor is buying the long-term ability to sell that attention again and again.
Where Sports Betting Fits Into The Investment Story
One of the most reliable commercial partners for modern clubs and leagues is the regulated sports betting industry. Official betting partners bring sponsorship fees, branded content, data partnerships and co-marketing campaigns that turn fan passion into new revenue lines. Reports on the sports business highlight this blend of betting and sponsorships as a key growth driver for clubs and sports ecosystems worldwide.
On the fan side, this link is very visible. A supporter in Nairobi might watch a local league game, then open download melbet app apk on their phone to check sports betting markets for international fixtures later that night, setting a modest budget for a few accumulators while chatting in a football WhatsApp group. For platform owners and investors, that same behaviour shows up as daily active users, bet volumes and retention rates, all of which feed into valuations and partnership deals with clubs. When a betting brand proves it can attract and keep engaged, responsible bettors, it becomes a more valuable sponsor in the eyes of team owners and media partners.
The same logic applies to regional expansion. A sportsbook building its name in East Africa wants both strong tech and strong local visibility. That is why a platform promoted under the banner of melbet kenya might combine sports betting offers with club tie-ins, free prediction games and local-language content that recognise how fans truly live football on the continent. Investors watching this story are not only counting gross gaming revenue; they are also measuring brand recognition, user growth curves and the strength of long-term licensing frameworks in each country.
How investors decide if the bet on sport is paying off
Across all these categories, the decision-making logic shares a common spine. Serious investors ask four big questions:
- Is revenue growing and diversified? For a club, that means tickets, media rights, sponsorships, merchandise and digital products. For a tech startup, that means not relying on a single league or client.
- Are the margins improving? Clubs chase healthier wage ratios and smarter scouting; tech companies push automation and scalable infrastructure to protect profits.
- Is the asset gaining strategic value? A stadium tied to a busy district, or a betting app with deep integrations into leagues, can be worth more than the pure cash it generates today.
- What is the exit picture? Can this stake be sold later to a bigger fund, another club owner, or via public markets at a higher valuation?
These are not questions for billionaires only. Even a small business sponsoring a local team, or a young professional considering a role at a sports startup, can think this way. Where does the money really come from? How is success measured? What happens if the hype fades?
Thinking like an investor, even as a fan
For many people, the only “investment” they will ever make in sport is the ticket they buy, the jersey they wear, or the small bet placed on a Saturday afternoon. Those are emotional decisions, and that is fine. But behind the scenes, the industry is being reshaped by people whose decisions are much colder, guided by spreadsheets and long-term plans.
Understanding where the money goes – clubs, tech, infrastructure, betting partners – helps explain why your favourite team keeps touring certain markets, updating its app, or signing new shirt sponsors from industries you see every day on your phone. By late 2025, its future is being shaped by boardrooms and investment committees just as much as by stadiums – and this influence will only grow in 2026.
