The professional sports industry is seemingly a prime candidate if you’re looking, as most investors are, for stability and predictability in these uncertain times. These are, after all, businesses that have often been around for a century, are continually growing in popularity and have loyal consumer followings, and with often long waiting lists for their products.
The pitfalls
The main risk for sports investors is that the demand for attending events is essentially elastic. The final demand is materially affected by factors such as the price of tickets rising and an attendee’s income dropping, thereby impacting on merchandise, tickets and pay-per-view sales.
This is the hard economic side of the sports industry investment coin, but there is another side that is more elusive, less palatable and can have a sometimes severe effect on the value and security of your investment portfolio. NBC’s golf ratings took a bad hit when Tiger Woods decided to embark on an extramarital affair, and the ever-present risk of scandals such as this, and their impact on investments, needs to be taken on board. They may be non-traditional risks but they’re very real and make for a volatile investment scenario.
Take a few expert tips from Milwaukee Bucks’ owner Wesley Edens, who knows all about the human and financial highs and lows of investing in the major sports leagues.
A tempting proposition
The associated ancillary businesses and franchises can be especially tempting, and although small to medium sized investors often overlook this potentially lucrative field there are many opportunities for them out there.
At the same time the sports industry with its media conglomerates and derivative businesses is far from being risk-free, and in some ways can actually be a more risky proposition than investment in traditional corporations.
One of the big advantages to investing in the sports sector is that the major leagues have virtually no competition, some being actually protected by anti-competition legislation. This is untrue of any other type of business and in addition the levels of repeat business are very high, so it would seem like a no-brainer to sink your spare dollars into them.
It’s the unique risks of a seemingly otherwise very attractive proposition that makes investing in sports a real challenge. Next time you attend a sporting event, check out the ancillary businesses that effectively support your team and assess whether in their own right they make sense for inclusion in your portfolio.