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In 2025, the record for the highest price paid for a pro sports team was broken twice in three months. The Celtics sold at a $6.1 billion valuation, then the Lakers sold at $10 billion. In 2026, the Seattle Seahawks sold for $9.6 billion, a new valuation benchmark. The average NFL team is now valued at roughly $9.34 billion, according to Sportico.
Those headlines raise a fair question. Is this a bubble, or have sports teams quietly become a real asset class?
The track record
The Ross-Arctos Sports Franchise Index, built by the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business and Arctos Partners, covers NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL franchise transactions. It reports that franchise values have compounded at 13.0% per year for more than sixty years. According to Dakota's June 2026 report, the index returned 16.0% annualized over the ten years through Q1 2026. Dakota also notes that historical analyses show low correlation to equities, fixed income, private equity, private credit, real estate and infrastructure. Low correlation means the asset has tended not to move in step with the rest of a portfolio.
One caveat belongs next to those numbers. The index estimates historical valuations using statistical models, and its authors state that past trends do not imply future results.
Why the numbers look this way
Dakota points to three structural drivers.
Media rights. Leagues negotiate broadcast deals centrally, share the revenue, and lock them in for years. The NFL's current package runs through 2033, and the NBA's renewal runs through the 2035-36 season. Streaming platforms such as Amazon, Apple, Netflix and YouTube have widened the pool of bidders.
Scarcity. The NFL has not added a team since 2002, the NBA has been at 30 teams since 2004, and MLB last expanded in 1998. Dakota notes that the franchise sale ceiling has more than quadrupled since 2018, from the Panthers' $2.3 billion to the Lakers' $10 billion.
Governance. Goldman Sachs's global co-head of sports, Dave Dase, told Front Office Sports that clear ownership rules and revenue sharing across franchises are a principal driver of North American valuations. Investors know what business model they are buying into.
The institutions have arrived
In August 2024, the NFL began allowing private equity investment, with seven approved firms and a 10% cap per team. Since then, a group led by Silver Lake's Egon Durban has agreed to buy 25% of the Raiders at a $9.9 billion valuation, and Arctos has bought 10% of the Browns at a reported $9 billion. In February 2026, KKR acquired Arctos for $1.4 billion. According to Dakota's institutionalization report, 30 of the 112 franchises it covers now carry some form of institutional capital.
The honest caveats
Sports ownership is illiquid. The NFL requires a six-year minimum hold period, and the secondary market is still thin. Dakota also cautions that as more capital chases a fixed pool of franchise interests, entry multiples are rising. Rising prices help existing owners and make the next buyer's entry more expensive.
Who has been left out
For most of sports history, the upside went to people with the capital and access to get in. LeBron James and Maverick Carter bought into Liverpool for $6.5 million in 2011, and that stake is now worth roughly $44 million. Fans fund teams every season through tickets and merchandise, yet almost none of the asset's appreciation has reached them. Fan ownership models like Real Madrid's 91,000 voting members show the appetite exists. The open question is how to widen access responsibly. For more on how franchise values have grown and what that means for everyday investors, read our guide to the growing value of sports teams.
Investing in sports-related assets, like all investing, carries risk, including potential loss of principal. This article is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice.
