A box seat to the US$3 trillion sports and media opportunity

Please note this interview was filmed on 17 August 2026.

Sports and media franchises have long been some of the world's most prized assets, sought by billionaires and celebrities alike.

But that common view hides what has become a genuinely exciting opportunity for investors, says Jeevan Sagoo, Managing Director at Ares.

"What I've seen over time is that investors have assumed that these sports assets, for example, are just trophy assets," says Sagoo. 

"We believe what you'll find is that these assets look and feel more akin to infrastructure-type assets: long duration, stable cash flows, scarcity of IP, scarcity of teams, franchises, and leagues, and essentially high utilisation where you've got growing consumer stickiness and demand."

Sagoo himself has had an interesting journey into the sports, media and entertainment (SME) asset class. He was signed as a producer with Ministry of Sound and worked for Universal Music Group before transitioning to private credit and then coming full circle back to the Ares SME team.  

In this interview, he explains the tailwinds and growth drivers that are underpinning an asset class that supports genuine long-term growth and a total addressable market that could be north of US$3 trillion.(2,3)

"This asset class is really formed around an investible universe of intellectual property, durable revenues, scarce assets, and long-term potential through customer stickiness and the way in which users are passionate about these assets." 

That reliable and sustainable audience not only supports durable revenues, it means the asset class may also be resilient to many of the macro headwinds that can challenge other sectors and assets.

"What we've seen over time is that the revenues have low correlation to traditional capital markets, geopolitical risk and macroeconomic risks," says Sagoo. 

"Typically, these are passions for a lot of consumers and therefore their sensitivity to what's happening in other parts of the world and what's happening in other asset classes doesn't really move the needle in terms of their desire to consume, whether it's sports, whether it's content, whether it's music."

For investors, it represents a huge, and still-growing, opportunity for genuine diversification(1), says Sagoo. "We believe the total addressable market is north of US$3 trillion," he says. "There is significant opportunity ahead from our perspective."(2,3)

"We believe there's low correlation to traditional capital markets and other asset classes, to private equity and private credit, and therefore it can be a diversifier(1) as you think about portfolio and returns."