The mergers and acquisitions scene was quieter than expected in 2023, and 2024 started slow too, but some areas like sports are holding strong and in some cases, even thriving.
Investors have taken note and can’t get enough. For example, JPMorgan launched a sports-focused investment banking team to tap into this “increasingly large asset class” pulling in big investment money. Goldman Sachs rolled out its own sports franchise unit in investment banking. Bloomberg called sports the “safe M&A bet” back in late 2023, and firms are all trying to get their at-bat in this market.
Additionally, sports tech crushed it out of the park in 2023 with over $37 billion in M&A and funding deals, plus $7 billion in new investment funds, per Drake Star’s report. M&A alone hit $26.7 billion, which was almost three times the year before.
Deloitte’s latest Sports Investment Outlook dives into the trends from 2024 and what’s coming for the rest of 2025 and beyond:
Deloitte says soccer (or football outside the U.S.) still led deals in 2024, grabbing 52% of volume. But American football is still on the decline, with just 2% of the deals. North American buyers dominated at 62%, Europeans came in at 20%. However, minority investments scored with nearly 50% of deals. Women’s sports kept growing, hitting 14% of volume and is on pace to continue its upward trajectory in popularity.
For the future, Deloitte sees investors chasing disruption. That means more bets on up-and-coming sports like cycling, sailing, and padel (think pickleball’s fancier sibling). All these sports are seeing huge popularity jumps.
Valuations are also calling audibles and dividing wildly. Premium teams and leagues keep seeing prices skyrocket as demand increases. This could mean even more minority stakes, which are already big as it stands, and a bigger gap between top-tier assets and everything else. Institutional players will look to score in side markets that ride the premium wave.
As far as women’s sports goes, Deloitte predicts the numbers to keep increasing. Funds dedicated to the genre are pouring in cash. After a solid 2024, this segment will draw even more players to the pitch.
Global sports love keeps growing, and investors are all over it. It’ll be fun to watch what takes off in 2025, especially with the U.S., Canada, and Mexico hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Plan on continuing to ride the wave of women’s sports success after the buzz from the NCAA Tournament, National Women’s Soccer League, and WNBA.