Sports teams, throughout the 20th century, were pretty much trophy assets. Shiny, nice to have, but expected to gleam on the shelf rather than build value.
Not so anymore. The news this week of the proposed deal for FIFA’s commercial rights, in the afterglow of the World Cup, highlighted the new normal: Sports teams are no longer viewed as expensive fun, but serious targets of multi-billion investment, anticipated to grow exponentially over time.
