Sports rights remain king: Six reasons why tier 1 sports rights valuations are going to keep going up, up, up

For a decade the sentiment has been sports rights are overvalued. It's likely they were always undervalued and continue to be.

For the last decade we have been told sports rights are overvalued. Ten years of being told leagues are asking too much, networks can’t make a return on them, and we are at the peak of what a sporting body can reasonably expect in terms of a valuation.

Yet rights keep going up. The AFL in 2021. NFL in 2021. NBA in 2024. FIFA. UEFA. Even the WWE. All experienced significant increases and fierce bidding.

And formal kick offs for the UFC and the NRL are imminent.

And my view is sports rights will continue to increase in value. And even despite a lethargic advertising market, high cost of living pressures, and increased competition for viewer attention, the financial upside of being a tier 1 sporting league is an evergreen proposition.

Here’s my analysis on the six reasons why.