Private Credit’s New Playing Field: Why Sports Assets Are Being Repriced Like Infrastructure—and Asia’s Emerging Opportunity

By SK Lee

The world’s largest private credit firms are increasingly viewing professional sports not as a glamorous sideline, but as a resilient infrastructure-like asset class—with scarce supply, inflation-protected cash flows, and vast untapped leverage.

Sixth Street, managing over $125 billion, has built a dedicated sports platform blending equity and credit solutions. CEO Alan Waxman has described sports as a “core strategic asset class,” driven by the convergence of media, technology, and live entertainment. The firm’s investments—from minority stakes in the New England Patriots to partnerships with Real Madrid—leverage flexible, long-term capital to fund growth while preserving owner control.

Ares Management, with its 15-year track record in the sector, takes a similarly expansive lens through its Sports, Media and Entertainment group. The firm estimates adjacent opportunities—stadiums, media rights, and related infrastructure—could total $2.5 trillion globally, five times the value of teams and leagues themselves. Ares deploys both debt and equity, tailoring structures to capture predictable revenue streams in an industry long under-levered by traditional banks.

Apollo Global Management has been among the most vocal proponents of this thesis. In recent insights, the firm highlighted a stark market inefficiency: While generic commercial real estate routinely finances at 65% loan-to-value ratios, flagship NFL franchises like the Dallas Cowboys operate at roughly 10% LTV. One is a commodity exposed to tenant risk; the other boasts global monopoly status, backed by more than $110 billion in locked-in media contracts through 2033. As streaming giants like Netflix allocate $16 billion annually just to capture audience attention, the NFL commands it by default. Green Bay’s 140,000-person season-ticket waiting list? It resembles a perpetual bond.

The opportunity, Apollo argues, lies in closing this leverage gap. Modestly increasing a $5 billion franchise’s debt to 35% LTV—still conservative by real estate standards—could unlock over $1 billion in senior secured liquidity without diluting equity. Historically, family owners treated debt cautiously; now, sophisticated capital is stepping in, shifting alpha from outright ownership to structured financing.

These strategies reflect a broader shift: Private credit’s rise allows bespoke financing that banks historically shunned, viewing sports as too niche. Today, with valuations soaring and cash flows proving resilient, the sector is being repriced.

In Asia, where established leagues are fewer but growth trajectories steeper, a similar playbook is emerging—led by pioneers applying private credit DNA to nascent markets.

Barry Lau, of Hong Kong-based TGG Holdings, brings precisely that heritage. A veteran of Asia’s alternative investment scene, Lau co-founded Adamas Ping An Co-Management L.P., where he served as managing partner and chief investment officer for private credit—one of the region’s earliest innovators in direct lending and structured finance during the post-2008 era. Lau was the first Asian representative on the global board of Alternative Credit Counsel under AIMA, an industry body representing private credit lenders and was often quoted by Private Debt Investors, a leading industry publication. His experience structuring collateralized deals on alternative assets now informs TGG’s push into sports.

Through LIT Sports Global, TGG is aggressively building an ecosystem around pickleball, the world’s fastest-growing participation sport. Initiatives include signing Hong Kong’s first professional players, acquiring clubs, developing academies and facilities, and hosting major tournaments like the recent World Pickleball Championship (WPC) with 900 players from around the world playing over 1800 matches across 25 courts over a sunny weekend in Hong Kong. The goal: Position Hong Kong as Asia’s pickleball hub, mirroring the city’s fencing dominance.

Here, the infrastructure analogy holds particular promise. Pickleball venues generate recurring revenue from memberships, events, and coaching—cash flows with natural moats in a sport still in its infancy regionally. As participation explodes globally, these assets could compound like the NFL’s media rights, yet with even lower starting leverage and greenfield potential. According to local news, LIT Sports Global has apparently signed long term media deals with local heavyweight operator VIU TV, a streaming platform with 70m subscribers across Asia and was one of the main sponsors at the WPC.

TGG’s broader vision extends to rugby and transforming Hong Kong into a wider sporting hub with a $300m allocation dedicated to LIT Sports Global as reported by AAStocks, a leading financial data and news agency in Asia. In a market where private credit expertise remains scarce, TGG’s approach—blending ownership, infrastructure buildout, and potential structured financing—positions it at the forefront of Asia’s version of the sports repricing wave.

For investors, the message is clear: Whether in billion-dollar NFL franchises or Asia’s emerging disciplines, sports assets offer scarcity and durability that traditional markets have only begun to price in. The next cycle’s alpha may well come from those who finance the game, not just play it.