Panel, Conference Presentation
Game Changers: Innovation and Evolution in Sports | Milken Institute Global Conference 2024
Milken InstituteHeather Brooks Karatz, Michele Kang, Marc Lasry, Candace Parker, Ryan Spoon, Masai Ujiri
- Candice Parker Retirement and Career Pivot:
- After a 16-year playing career, Parker announced retirement to transition into business, specifically focusing on broadcasting, investing, and ownership.
- Her goal is to join ownership groups for both WNBA and NBA teams, citing Michael Strahan as a "North Star" for the transition model.
- Parker joined Mark Lautner's new sports fund to leverage her relationship skills and perspective in evaluating women's sports investments.
- Michelle Kwan's Women's Sports Expansion:
- Kwan, owner of three women's teams including Olympique Lyonnais Women, noted a 40x increase in team valuations (from $3M to $120M) over five years without proportional revenue growth, signaling undervaluation.
- She championed the "multi-club model" as a necessity in women's sports to pool capital and scale investment, contrasting it with the negative perception in men's soccer.
- Kwan targets a 5-year horizon to break even across her multi-club portfolio, aiming to capitalize on upcoming media deal renegotiations in the US (NWSL) and UK.
- Ryan Smith (Yahoo Sports) Platform Strategy:
- Yahoo Sports, acquired by Apollo two-and-a-half years ago, is shifting its North Star from reach to "time spent," measuring success via minutes engaged similar to traditional TV metrics.
- The platform is modernizing mobile and fantasy products while curating external content to serve as a central hub for sports fans.
- Current monthly unique users stand at approximately 100 million, with a strategic focus on increasing this to 125–150 million through diverse content voices and fantasy gaming.
- Masai Ujiri and the African Market:
- Ujiri projects that by 2050, one in four people globally will be African, citing a median age of 19 as a driver for future sports obsession.
- He highlighted the NBA's direct investment in the Basketball Africa League as a precedent for institutional commitment to the continent.
- Ujiri announced the upcoming opening of a new sports and entertainment district in Rwanda (Kigali) scheduled for the next summer, modeled after Western venues like LA Live.
- Mark Lautner's New Sports Fund and Asset Class Trends:
- Following the sale of his stake in the Milwaukee Bucks, Lautner launched a dedicated sports fund focusing on capital provision for team acquisitions, new leagues, and women's sports.
- He identified a capital shortage in team acquisitions, noting that as team valuations rise (e.g., Lakers moving from $5B to $10B), leverage limits restrict buyer pools.
- Lautner highlighted emerging sports like SailGP, which attracted 2 million average viewers in Abu Dhabi, surpassing the average NBA game viewership of 1 million.
- Investment thesis emphasizes a 5–10 year horizon to capture second and third media deal cycles, particularly in women's sports where valuations are expected to grow 400% relative to current baselines.
- Broader Industry Consensus:
- The panel agreed that women's sports are in the "first second inning" of a massive growth wave, driven by undervaluation and rising demographic interest.
- There is a consensus that ownership experience provides a competitive "special sauce" for investors, offering access and deal-winning advantages over traditional financial firms.
- The industry is moving toward a future where women's sports compete directly for discretionary time and dollars against all other entertainment forms, not just men's leagues.