LIT Sports: TGG is Turning Sports into its Next Power Play
- John Grey
- Sep 25
- 3 min read
Family offices, once known as conservative custodians of generational wealth, are charging into sports with surprising speed. According to Goldman Sachs’ Family Office Investment Insights 2025, nearly 30% of ultra‑wealthy families now hold stakes in sports-related assets, up from just 13% five years ago. Goldman calls sports the “new frontier asset class,” pairing cultural capital with resilient cash flows and scalable reach. PwC estimates global sports revenues will surge past $600 billion by 2027.
One of the most intriguing new entrants is TGG, which has launched LIT Sports Global Limited as its dedicated operating company. Unlike traditional trophy‑hunting in sport, TGG is assembling a vertically integrated playbook —t eams, leagues, streaming platforms, merchandising, tournaments, and venue development — designed to capture fans and value at every turn.
The Family Office Stampede
Goldman’s survey puts sports allocations at over $70 billion of family office capital worldwide — a doubling since 2020. North America dominates in sheer size, while Asia and the Middle East are growing fastest, each expanding at more than 15% annually.
Other indicators underline the surge:
PitchBook: family offices and private equity now account for more than 40% of global sports M&A activity.
Media Partners Asia: sports rights fees expected to touch $70 billion per year by 2028.
EY: live sports attendance running at 105% of pre‑pandemic levels, outpacing every other form of entertainment.
It is no wonder family offices have discovered their new stage.
The Pickleball Play
TGG’s opening move takes aim at pickleball, the fastest‑growing sport in America and increasingly a global phenomenon. The Sports & Fitness Industry Association reports participation has jumped 223% in just three years, with 13.6 million U.S. players in 2024. Forbes notes team valuations have grown ten‑fold since 2021. Celebrity investors from LeBron James to Kim Clijsters have only amplified the buzz.
In Asia, TGG will back the longest-running Pickleball Club, TLP in Hong Kong, China — the city’s anchor institution for the sport and a gateway to the Greater Bay region. The plan is ambitious:
Pro players signed to elevate standards and attract visibility.
Grassroots programs to cultivate a domestic talent pipeline with the aim of building athletes rivaling Hong Kong’s celebrated Olympic fencing team.
The hosting of the World Pickleball Championship in Hong Kong, cementing the city’s position on the international pickleball calendar.
This local‑to‑global structure — community development paired with global exposure — may be TGG’s real differentiator. It is both a patient capital model and a marketing engine.
Beyond the First Serve
Pickleball is not the destination, just the start. Industry sources suggest LIT Sports will soon cast its eye to traditional, mainstream sports franchises. Soccer and rugby are quietly being marked out as next‑phase targets. With fan bases numbering in the billions and commercial models ripe for modernization, these global leagues could represent the second wave of TGG’s platform build.
“Pickleball is our starting whistle,” says Andre Lajeunesse, Managing Director at TGG. “The real game is much bigger—and we’ll be making moves that resonate with fans of the world’s great sports in very short order. Watch this space.”
Solomon Grey Take
For family office investors scouting differentiated allocations, sports is no longer a sideshow. It is a maturing asset class with cultural reach financiers rarely access. TGG’s LIT Sports strategy — rooted in pickleball but openly hinting at more traditional sports—shows how families can combine patient ownership with vertical integration.
In other words, it’s not just about the scoreboard on the field. The real score is in the ecosystem around it.
