By Yantoultra Ngui and Vibhuti Sharma
SINGAPORE/MUMBAI, July 23 (Reuters) - Asian wealthy families and fund managers are increasingly moving beyond sponsorships and charity-linked sporting events to invest directly in sports assets, betting that growing audiences and rising media-rights fees will drive longer term returns.
The trend is fuelling a record run in dealmaking, with Asia-Pacific sports-related M&A reaching $3.69 billion in the year to July 13, the highest in LSEG records dating back to 1980
and more than 12 times the level a year earlier. Globally, sports M&A was broadly flat at $8.34 billion.
The deal surge reflects the maturation of sports as an investment theme in Asia. Wealthy families and institutional investors are increasingly pursuing minority stakes in franchises, leagues and sports technology businesses as a way to gain exposure to the sector, with outright team acquisitions remaining rare, costly and restricted, bankers said.
Deal pipelines have also been bolstered by opportunities ranging from a potential minority stake sale in an Indian cricket league team to baseball-linked businesses in Japan and South Korea, advisors said.
Asia has become both a major sports market and a growing source of capital, driven by strong followings for the National Basketball Association, European football and Formula One, said Jordan Solomon, managing director at KKR Solutions in New York.
The investment case is strengthening as audiences continue to grow, broadcasters compete aggressively for premium rights and digital platforms expand access across populous Asian markets.
While FIFA has yet to release final Asia-wide audience figures for the 2026 World Cup, early numbers underscore the region's pull. The tournament reached 205 million unique viewers on CCTV channels in China after 41 matches, while Japan's win over Tunisia reached 39 million viewers on Nippon TV, according to FIFA's website.
"Attention is a currency," Kiat Lim, a Singapore-based businessman who controls Spanish football club Valencia CF and has held stakes in McLaren Automotive and Salford City FC, told Reuters.
"With more people watching, broadcasters are willing to pay more for the rights, and as the value of those rights increases, that ultimately trickles down to the teams."
CRICKET DEALS
In India, the Goenka family, which owns 100% of Indian Premier League (IPL) team Lucknow Super Giants, is exploring the sale of a 5% to 10% stake at a valuation of $1.8 billion to $2 billion, two people familiar with the matter said.
The family has received interest from overseas investors but has yet to decide whether to proceed, another source said. The sources declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak to the media. A representative for the Goenka family did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The deliberations follow two major IPL deals this year.
United Spirits, the Indian arm of drinks giant Diageo, agreed in March to sell Royal Challengers Bengaluru for $1.8 billion to a group including billionaire David Blitzer's family office Bolt Ventures, and asset manager Blackstone Group.
In May, a consortium led by industrialists Lakshmi Mittal and Adar Poonawalla agreed to buy a 93% stake in rival Rajasthan Royals at a $1.65 billion valuation.
Sophia Park Mullen, president of New York-based alternative asset manager EnTrust Global, said sports investing in Asia was "evolving from trophy acquisitions by a handful of billionaires into a more strategic, institutional asset class".
'AI-PROOF BUSINESS'
John Hutcheson, Citigroup's global head of sports advisory investment banking, said investors increasingly view sports as resilient, "AI proof" and capable of generating returns that are less correlated with broader markets.
"We've gotten more inbounds from institutional capital in Asia recently saying, we love this asset class. We'd love to find ways to invest," Hutcheson said, adding Citi was not getting those calls "even a year ago."
Still, some investors warn against treating all sports assets as equal.
Ares Management's co-head of sports, media and entertainment, Mark Affolter, said newer leagues and sports-linked businesses can carry more risk because winners and losers are less clear.
"There is a sports halo that's cast wide across the entire industry," he said. "I think that's a mistake."
For Singapore state investor Temasek, sports remains an emerging theme rather than a core strategy even with its long-standing investment in Fanatics and exposure through private equity partners.
"It's a nascent thing," said Nagi Hamiyeh, president of Temasek Global Investments and head of EMEA.
"Sports could be looked at as an uncorrelated asset class," he said.
(Reporting by Yantoultra Ngui in Singapore and Vibhuti Sharma in Mumbai; Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee and Shri Navaratnam)
