By CultureBanx Team
- Marques Colston’s Champion Fund lowers the sports investing entry point to $500
- Private equity invested more than $55 billion in sports related assets between 2019 and 2024
Sports has always been big business with team acquisitions reaching $23.6 billion through August of last year. Consumers of color create enormous value in sports but capture far less through ownership. That line of thinking took center stage during a Martha’s Vineyard conversation between Champion Fund Managing Partner and former New Orleans Saints Super Bowl champion Marques Colston and Forbes senior writer Jabari Young.
Why This Matters: Colston, who spent 10 seasons in the NFL, is building his second act around investing and widening access to the sports economy. “We’re all stakeholders in the sports economy,” Colston said. “And the thing that you realize is each of us as stakeholders is driving equity to a very, very small select group of owners.”
The difference between creating value and owning value hits differently for diverse sports loving communities. Nielsen reports Black Americans’ buying power has grown 2.4 times since 2000 to $2.1 trillion. More than half of Black Americans are under 35, further strengthening the community’s influence across digital media, entertainment and culture. Yet cultural capital doesn’t automatically become financial equity.
New Investing Playbook: Institutional money is pouring into sports. CFA Institute reports private equity firms invested more than $55 billion in sports-related assets between 2019 and 2024. With institutional investors now holding stakes in more than 74 North American professional teams.
Meanwhile, S&P Global Market Intelligence found sports-team acquisitions reached $23.6 billion through August 2025, already surpassing the previous full-year record. Even the NFL opened its doors wider to institutional capital, allowing approved private-equity funds to collectively acquire up to 10% of individual franchises.
Colston’s proposition is essentially: Why should institutions be the only ones thinking about sports as an asset class? “I wanted to make sure that we had a vehicle that was not just investing in an asset class that has a tremendous upside,” Colston said, “but I wanted to do it in a way that gave people access.”
That vehicle is the Champion Fund. Sports Business Journal reports accredited and non-accredited investors can participate with a $500 minimum. The fund launched with investments spanning England’s Ipswich Town, Sports Illustrated Tickets, Fathead and Emerging.
Sports Next Money Wave: Rather than betting everything on marquee franchises, people should look for opportunities across ticketing, hospitality, technology, media and stadium-adjacent businesses.
“That second tier or that emerging market of sports is so appealing,” Colston said, “because that’s where the alpha lives.”
Women’s sports illustrate the opportunity. Deloitte expects global women’s elite sports revenue to reach at least $3 billion in 2026, up 340% since 2022. The Golden State Valkyries provide an even sharper example. After entering the WNBA following a $50 million expansion fee, the franchise reached a $500 million valuation during its first season and reported a $1 billion valuation in 2026.
Unrivaled is another emerging asset. TNT Sports became an equity investor while signing a multiyear media-rights deal with the women’s basketball league. Just this month Reuters reported, Unrivaled raised more than $100 million at a $650 million valuation, with players remaining its largest shareholder group.
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