Business
How ultra-rich families invest in sports, from major leagues to social clubs
SEATTLE, WA – SEPTEMBER 07: George Kittle #85 of the San Francisco 49ers celebrates with fans and teammates after scoring a touchdown against the Seattle Seahawks during the game at Lumen Field on September 07, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Icon Sportswire | Icon Sportswire | Getty Images
A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.
While ultra-wealthy families and their investment firms are investing in fewer startups, they are still clamoring for a piece of the action when it comes to sports.
According to a new survey by Goldman Sachs, 25% of family offices have invested in sports or related assets like ticketing or arenas, and another quarter are interested in doing so.
Last week, Julia Koch, the widow of billionaire David Koch, and her family agreed to buy a minority stake in the NFL’s New York Giants, according to Bloomberg. In June, Guggenheim Partners CEO and billionaire Mark Walter reached a deal to buy a majority stake in the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers at a valuation of $10 billion. And a trio of Bay Area families, including venture capitalist Vinod Khosla’s, bought a 6% stake in the San Francisco 49ers in May.
However, while women’s leagues and emerging sports like pickleball have garnered more buzz, investor appetite hasn’t caught up, according to the bank’s survey. Only 19% of 245 family offices said they had invested in or are interested in investing in women’s established leagues, while 71% expressed interest in major men’s leagues. A smaller percentage (16%) indicated past investment or interest in women’s emerging leagues or men’s minor leagues.
There are some high-profile examples, with a cohort of billionaire investors securing three new WNBA team franchises in June. However, these investors are betting on future equity growth rather than cashflow for financial return, as previously reported by CNBC’s Alex Sherman.
Goldman Sachs’ Meena Flynn told Inside Wealth that family offices, which invest for the long term, can afford to be patient with team ownership, no matter what kind of sports they’re getting into.
“It really combines their interests from a passion perspective as well as long term value creation,” she said.
Moreover, family offices see sports as hedges against inflation since they have multiple revenue sources such as streaming rights and ticketing, according to Flynn, Goldman Sachs’ co-head of global private wealth management.
Many major league owners are growing their sports empires by investing in other sports and related enterprises, such as Blackstone’s David Blitzer, the first person to own equity in all five major men’s U.S. sports leagues. This year alone, his family office Bolt Ventures has backed Fantasy Life, a sports betting media firm; Ballers, a chain of social clubs for racket sports; and club operator Padel Haus.
New Delhi: Bhavish Aggarwal-run Ola Electric Mobility Ltd reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 418 crore for the July-September period (Q2 FY26), its exchange filing said on Thursday, as revenue slipped.
Revenue from operations dropped 43 per cent year-on-year to Rs 690 crore in Q2 FY26, down from Rs 1,214 crore in Q2 FY25, indicating a substantial decline in sales for the quarter.
However, the electric two-wheeler maker’s operating EBITDA loss narrowed to Rs 203 crore during the quarter from Rs 379 crore a year earlier, indicating improved cost efficiency.
The company’s auto segment delivered an EBITDA margin at 0.3 per cent by reducing Auto operating expense from Rs 308 crore to Rs 258 crore (on-quarter), the release said.
After the announcements of the results, Ola Electric’s stock fell to Rs 49.4 on the NSE, down 66 paise, during intra-day trade, posting a decline of 1.32 per cent from the previous close.
“For the Auto segment, we expect lower volumes than the Q1 guidance as we continue to focus on margin and cash discipline in a hyper competitive market,” the company said in its filing.
For H2 FY26, Ola Electric targets total deliveries of approximately 100,000 units. This moderation in unit volumes will be complemented by volumes from its new vertical beginning in Q4, the company added.
The company recorded sales of 16,034 e-scooters in October, marking a 61 per cent decline from 41,843 units sold in the same month last year, according to data from the government’s Vahan portal.
“On a full-year basis, we now expect FY26 consolidated revenue of around Rs 3,000 – Rs 3200 crore, reflecting a balanced focus on profitability over volumes,” the company said.
The auto segment will continue to improve QoQ profitability. We expect to exit Q4 with Auto gross margins around 40 per cent and segment EBITDA of around 5 per cent, it added.
Miles DavisDevon political reporter
PA MediaAbout 1,300 children in Devon are now getting free school meals who were not previously entitled to them.
Devon County Council and Torbay Council have changed the rules so families who are entitled to free school meals automatically get them without having to apply.
The increase in the number of children who are eligible also brings with it extra “pupil premium” funding that can be used to provide additional support for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Cornwall Council agreed to introduce the same scheme from September 2026 and said it believed it could affect about 1,800 children, while Plymouth City Council said it was also looking into the possibility of making the change.
The percentage of children receiving free school meals in the Devon County Council area has risen steadily from 9.6% in 2016/17 to just under 20% by 2023/24.
At the moment, a household must earn less than £7,400 a year to qualify for free school meals.
Devon County Council said it was the first county council in the country to introduce auto-enrolment for pupils whose family income made them entitled.
The council said there were now about 21,065 pupils receiving free school meals, with an increase of about 1,065 due to auto-enrolment.
‘Unfair link’
The leader of Devon County Council, Liberal Democrat Julian Brazil, said the application process for free school meals had been “a barrier” to some families.
He said: “This is one of those initiatives that makes absolute sense – it’s good for pupils and it’s good for schools.”
The changes have also meant that schools in the Devon County Council area will receive an additional £1.5m, with an extra £1,515 per primary pupil and £1,075 per secondary pupil on free school meals.
Moira Marder is chief executive of the Ted Wragg Trust, which has 18 schools across Devon.
She said: “The additional pupil premium funding unlocked by this policy will enable us to offer more targeted interventions and extra support to these students, moving one step closer to breaking the unfair link between disadvantage, opportunity and outcomes.”
According to research carried out by the charity End Child Poverty in conjunction with Loughborough University, 27% of children in the south-west of England were living in poverty in 2023/24.
That figure was highest in the Plymouth Sutton and Devonport area – at 35% of children – and at 32% in Torbay.
Sonia Duggan, who works for the charity Action for Children in Paignton, welcomed more childen getting free school meals but said many families were still struggling to feed themselves.
She said: “The auto-enrolment is great. However, it’s not going to touch the surface for some of our families.
“Our families are living in poverty. Everything has increased – all their bills, fuel costs, their food, everything.
“We have families that are working, that cannot afford to feed their children.”
Business
Digital Life Certificate From Comfort Of Home For Pensioners: How To Book Doorstep Request Through India Post; Check Direct Link
 "Digital Life Certificate From Comfort Of Home For Pensioners: How To Book Doorstep Request Through India Post; Check Direct Link")
New Delhi: India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), to provide doorstep Digital Life Certificate (DLC) services to its pensioners under the Employees’ Pension Scheme, 1995.
Under this collaboration, IPPB — a 100 per cent government-owned entity under the Department of Posts — will leverage its wide network of over 1.65 lakh post offices and more than 3 lakh postal service providers (postmen and Gramin Dak Sevaks).
Digital Life Certificate For Free
EPFO will bear the cost of issuing Digital Life Certificate entirely, making the service free for their pensioners.
They are equipped with doorstep banking devices and digital process of face authentication technology and fingerprint biometric authentication, to assist EPFO pensioners in submitting their Digital Life Certificates conveniently from their homes, eliminating the need for them to visit bank branches or EPFO offices to submit traditional paper-based certificates.
Digital Life Certificate: How To Book Doorstep Request Online
Doorstep request for Digital Life Certificate can be made through the Post Info app or website.
You can visit https://ccc.cept.gov.in/ServiceRequest/request.aspx to book India Post doorstep request for Digital Life Certificate
India Post Payments Bank introduced the doorstep service of Digital Life Certificate in 2020 for generating Jeevan Pramaan for pensioners using Aadhaar-enabled biometric authentication to reduce the turnaround time for issuance of Jeevan Pramaan.
On completion of the certificate generation process, confirmation SMS will be received by the pensioner in his mobile number and the certificate can be viewed online the next day.
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