Joshua Kushner
Joshua Kushner

Silicon Valley venture capitalists and some of the world's wealthiest investors are increasingly turning away from traditional technology bets and toward professional sports franchises, casinos and other "human-centered" real-world assets, a shift analysts are linking to concerns about artificial intelligence disrupting more conventional industries.

The wave of sports-team acquisitions has pushed valuations to record heights in recent months. Earlier this month, a consortium led by former Disney chief executive Bob Iger and venture capitalist Josh Kushner agreed to buy a controlling interest in the Los Angeles Lakers, valuing the NBA franchise at a record $12.5 billion, the highest price ever paid for control of a professional sports team in a single transaction. Kushner had previously purchased a stake in the San Francisco Giants before joining the Lakers deal.

Just days later, Fenway Sports Group, the ownership group behind the Boston Red Sox, agreed to sell roughly a third of Premier League club Liverpool to a consortium led by U.K.-based investor Amit Bhatia and anchored by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, in a deal valuing the storied English soccer club at more than $7 billion. Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin and his wife, Elaine, were also part of the investor group.

The buying spree has extended well beyond those two headline deals. Dragoneer Investment Group founder Marc Stad is in the process of acquiring a controlling stake in the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves, in a transaction alongside the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx valued at $4.5 billion. Vinod Khosla, an early investor in OpenAI and longtime venture capital figure through Khosla Ventures, is leading a $9.6 billion takeover of the NFL's Seattle Seahawks, the largest sum ever paid for control of an NFL franchise. Major League Baseball also recently approved the $3.9 billion sale of the San Diego Padres, surpassing the $2.4 billion hedge fund manager Steve Cohen paid for the New York Mets back in 2020, while the Yankees separately agreed to a $2.6 billion minority investment from private equity firm Apollo Global Management.

Analysts and investors point to a common explanation behind the surge: professional sports franchises are viewed as relatively insulated from the disruptive effects of artificial intelligence, unlike software, financial services and other industries increasingly being reshaped by the technology. Teams offer loyal fan bases and predictable media rights revenue that are difficult to replicate or automate, along with significant tax advantages for wealthy owners, making them attractive as what some in the investment world have begun calling "AI-proof assets."

Sudeep Ramnani, co-founder of investment firm 885 Capital, which has backed the Professional Fighters League mixed martial arts organization among other sports properties, has previously described the underlying appeal of sports investments in terms of durable, emotionally driven demand. Ramnani has said his firm looks for projects with potential for perpetually robust or even infinite demand, arguing that sports fit that description because of the emotional connection fans have with live competition and the way it brings people together.

The shift in capital is not confined to major leagues requiring billions of dollars in commitments. Smaller venture firms have also poured money into emerging niche sports leagues in recent years. Left Lane Capital, led by founder Harley Miller, has backed a range of newer sports ventures, including Real American Freestyle, a wrestling league co-founded by Hulk Hogan in 2025, along with investments in professional paddle leagues, snowboarder Shaun White's Snow League, and League One Volleyball. Left Lane has framed these bets as part of a broader thesis around difficult-to-replicate, real-world assets that are not vulnerable to being upended by the emergence of newer, more capable AI models the way many software-based businesses might be. Left Lane has also invested in consumer brands such as Blank Street Coffee and other direct-to-consumer businesses as part of a similar strategy focused on tangible, experience-driven products.

The trend extends beyond sports into other "experience economy" sectors as well. Media mogul Barry Diller, through his company People Inc., has been in negotiations to acquire casino giant MGM Resorts International at a valuation exceeding $12 billion, framing the deal as a deliberate bet on real-world assets that AI is less likely to disrupt, even as much of the broader investment community has rushed toward AI-related opportunities.

Beth Ferreira, a partner at Serena Ventures, the investment firm run by tennis star Serena Williams, has described this broader category of investment, spanning physical products, travel and wellness, as the "experience economy," reflecting a view that as people spend more time in front of screens, time spent in the physical world becomes correspondingly more valuable. Serena Ventures has said it looks for founders building businesses that personalize and optimize human experiences rather than attempting to replace them with technology. The firm's portfolio includes an investment in Stikbot, an AI-powered children's toy company that generates custom images on demand and prints them as physical stickers, a company later acquired by Spin Master, the maker of the "PAW Patrol" toy franchise, in a deal valued between $35 million and $50 million.

The rush toward sports and other tangible assets marks a notable departure from the investment patterns that defined much of the venture capital industry over the past two decades, when firms competed aggressively to fund software and internet companies capable of scaling to enormous size with relatively low incremental costs. That earlier era of investing helped generate some of the largest fortunes in Silicon Valley history, including those now being redirected toward professional sports franchises.

Whether this shift represents a durable, long-term reallocation of capital or a more speculative response to the current wave of AI enthusiasm remains a subject of debate among industry observers. Some analysts have cautioned that record-setting valuations for franchises like the Lakers and Liverpool reflect not just concerns about AI, but also a broader surge in the number of billionaires with sufficient capital to compete for a limited and largely fixed supply of major professional sports teams, a dynamic that on its own would be expected to drive prices higher regardless of any AI-related considerations.

For now, the pace of dealmaking shows little sign of slowing, with additional major sports franchise transactions reportedly under discussion across multiple leagues, suggesting that the convergence of Silicon Valley capital and professional sports ownership is likely to continue reshaping the ownership landscape of major American and international sports franchises in the months ahead.

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