Invest in sports: how to profit from the booming global industry

Whether it’s backing sports teams, the media networks that buy the rights or the firms that make the clobber, opportunities abound for investors

Celtic v St Mirren - Cinch Scottish Premiership
(Image credit: Stu Forster/Getty Images)

“Some people think football is a matter of life and death… it’s much more serious than that.” So quipped legendary football manager Bill Shankly. What he said may be more true now then ever. Sports is now big business – and getting bigger all the time. Whether it is teams being bought for billions, broadcasters spending record sums on securing the broadcasting rights to matches, or the rise of “athleisure” wear, sports is clearly a “potentially attractive growth market globally”, says Sam North, a market analyst with eToro. And although large parts of the industry remain in private hands, there are many ways for investors to grab a slice of the pie. Here’s how.

Why invest in sports?

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Dr Matthew Partridge
Shares editor, MoneyWeek

Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.

He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.

Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.

As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @DrMatthewPartri