Trends Watch: Private Equity Investing in Sports

EisnerAmper’s Trends Watch is a weekly entry to our Alternative Investments Intelligence blog, featuring the views and insights of executives from alternative investment firms. If you’re interested in being featured, please contact Elana Margulies-Snyderman.  

This week, Elana talks with Jed Kaplan, CEO, Shearson Financial Services.

What is your outlook for PE investing in sports?

Many more successful PE managers are coming into the space. That is a huge plus, in terms of supply and demand. Overall, given the increases in viewership and the dramatic increases in media deals as a result, the revenues of specific teams and leagues will keep up with the rising team values.

Where do you see the greatest opportunities and why?

We feel the greatest returns will be in second-tier teams that have more convexity given their lower entry points. On the larger, passive deals, having the right majority owner is very important. 

Given our presence in the space, we see most deals and are able to evaluate the best ones for our investors.

What are the greatest challenges you face and why?

To me challenges are opportunities. Given our partnerships’ long tenure in this space, we have made the mistakes that newcomers face. We have learned from those mistakes and that will benefit the investors in our fund.

What keeps you up at night?

NOTHING. If you have confidence in yourself and have given it 110%, there should be nothing to keep you up at night. Given our expected diversification and due diligence, we will mitigate most of the risks associated with these investments.

The views and opinions expressed above are of the interviewee only, and do not/are not intended to reflect the views of EisnerAmper.