If you could buy a sports franchise in any league...

If you could buy any sports franchise – no constraints on money or availability – what would you buy?

I used to think soccer because of its global appeal, but now I think it is the NBA. The NBA has become the best sports league, it is really well run, they’ve done an excellent job of internationalizing the game, and incorporating rule changes from Europe that improve the game. The owners support the players being socially aware and involved which is very current, It is merchandising behemoth. They are investing like crazy popularizing the game in Asia. Even their offseason activities are more interesting than a mid-season baseball game.

The NCAA. Never have I ever seen a better monopoly supported by the government that is essentially nothing more than a money grab.

Agreed, NBA.

About to cash in on that betting mula, also. I think basketball lends itself well to in-game wagers.

Formula 1 or UFC (I think you’re referring to leagues right?)

i think manchester united is the only publicly traded sports team out there and its worth about 3.5b. in any case, they arent very profitable. people easily overpay for them all the time so tehir performance even for the shittiest team in the nba has been amazin. consider michael jordan’s bobcats investment:

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/nba/charlotte-hornets/article198835139.html

in 2010, the hornets were valued at 287m. Now it is worth 1b in 2018 at least in paper. for a 16% CAGR for the time period vs 11% for the spy’s total return. hornets has 202m rev and 21m operating income. lol a 47x operating multiple.

Do e-sports count?

76ers were bought in 2011 for $287M, currently valued at $1.2B. No coincidence PE guys bought them and are the primary stakeholders.

https://www.forbes.com/teams/philadelphia-76ers/

I think the issue with E-sports is that they’re probably not going to be profitable in a silo. Take Team Liquid – they’re successful because they have teams in almost every league and get an instant following. If I wanted to start watching competitive CS, I’d naturally root for the teams I know from other e-sports. Buying a single team in a single e-sport seems like a waste of money. Idk how OpTic is turning a profit on the LoL team.

Like the rest of everyone, I’d pick the NBA.

dafuq does ‘currently valued’ mean for an NBA team tho? $1.2B on $40M EBITDA (per the article) is 30x - no thanks, and nobody is paying this multiple. I call paper value BS with infinite illiquidity.

manu is literally losing money and its worth 3.5b. its last positive operating profit in 2017 was 100m, thats a 35x. its publicly traded btw.

the NFL is the right answer

Do you deal with private market transactions frequently? Marking is inexact and market dependent. That is the nature of many of these assets. However, Houston Rockets sold in 2017 at 35x EBITDA and 9x revenue while 76ers valuation in the article is at 30x EBITDA and 6.5x revenue. It is not outlandish based on recent transactions, and is definitely a great return since the 2011 purchase at $287M even if you mark it way below that. And, that is unlevered. Debt/value is stated at 13% so that means ~$150M of debt outstanding as of the valuation date. Let’s say they financed about 50% of the purchase: that would be about 8x return, or over 100% return per year from 2011 through Feb 2018. Plenty of room in that IRR for a lower valuation.

https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2017/9/5/16255168/nba-teams-sold-highest-record-price-all-30

Interesting that everyone is looking at this from the investment side of things. While you can certainly make good money owning a team, that’s not the goal. It’s all about bragging, swinging your dick around and getting to own a team you’re a fan of (or maybe you’re a fan of the sport, whatever). It’s pretty much the coolest toy a billionaire can buy.

So, if I could buy any team it would obviously be the Chiefs. And, as owner, I would decree that I would be allowed to call one play per game.

If we’re going that route I’m surprised you didn’t say the pats. Maybe that’s the only way to bring the dynasty down.

steve ballmer seems to be enjoying the clippers though not from an investment perspective!

STL, that’s why I picked ones I’d be interested in. I’d be like Bernie Ecclestone, when he owned it, flying around in private jets, watching F1 races at some of the best circuits all around the world. Would also bring back v12 engines.

Check out that calendar:

isnt F1 broke again

Adam Silver would like to have a word with you.

Is ultimate surrender considered a sport league? That would be pretty cool to own. Any NFL team would be badass… except the Cowboys of course.