How a Blackstone exec built a sports investing empire

David Blitzer’s interest in sports investing began after he became, in his own words, a “failed athlete.”

“I thought I was good when I was, you know, like a teenager. Then I realized by high school that I was adequate at best and certainly was not playing past high school,” he said in a Thursday episode of the Bloomberg podcast “The Deal.”

The billionaire, who is a chairman at Blackstone’s cross-asset investment group, made a name for himself as a pioneer in sports investing — a now-hot segment of the media and entertainment dealmaking world.

On the podcast, Blitzer sat down with hosts Alex Rodriguez and Jason Kelly to talk about the empire of team ownerships he has built.

Blitzer is the cofounder and managing partner of Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment, which owns the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils. He also holds stakes in the NFL’s Washington Commanders, the MLB’s Cleveland Guardians, and the MLS’s Real Salt Lake.

“Being an investor in any of these teams and leagues is fun, it’s rewarding, it’s challenging, it’s really difficult,” he said.

Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.

Why Blizter is betting on sports

Blitzer’s first sports investment was with Josh Harris, the cofounder of Apollo, in 2011 when they acquired the Philadelphia 76ers for $280 million. Together, they founded Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment.

“We had a lot of experience in corporate carve-outs. We had a lot of experience in bringing in new management teams and thinking about incentive structures in ways that I don’t really think sports had had really done in the past,” Blitzer said.

The early thesis for investing is the same one he has now: supply and demand, he said. There are a set number of sports teams, and more ultrawealthy people and newer entrants, like private equity firms, want to buy them.

“These are content and media businesses, and they have some of the best IP in the world. And frankly, in today’s world, when you think about live content, there’s probably nothing more valuable.”

He’s the first person to own equity in all five of the major men’s sports leagues in the US. His portfolio is strategically broad, he said, so he can offer wide, cross-sport reach for advertisers.

Earlier this year, for example, they did a deal with Campbell’s — the soup company — across the Commanders, the Sixers, the Devils, and Joe Gibbs Racing.

As with private equity portfolio companies, the scale of Blitzer’s portfolio also allows the company to better spread the cost of cutting-edge tools, such as AI and data analytics, he said.

Blitzer is also betting on sports outside pro men’s leagues.

Last year, Blitzer and Harris launched Unrivaled Sports, a company that specializes in youth sports. Blitzer also holds a stake in NWSL’s Utah Royals.

Blitzer’s advice to would-be sports owners

Even though Blitzer takes a strategic, portfolio approach to investing in sport, he points out that owning sports teams goes beyond crunching numbers.

He says his best advice for anyone investing in a sports franchise or a league is to go slow.

“Don’t do anything in your first season, like literally. Just learn. Just go around and meet everyone in the organization, watch what they do, how they do it. Do not come in and do big things in your first season,” he said, before adding: “By the way, no one has taken that advice.”

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