BC Partners has entered into exclusive talks for the acquisition of a minority stake in EuroLeague, giving it an advantage over other competitors such as General Atlantic and Riyadh's SURJ Sports Investment in the race to acquire a stake in the top basketball competition on the Old Continent.

According to a report in the Financial Times on Wednesday, the London-based British firm could "close" a deal with EuroLeague as early as within a month. It is noted that the shareholders of Euroleague Commercial Assets, which owns EuroLeague and EuroCup, want to sell about a third of the business, which is valued at €1 billion.

Remember that Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), a sports investment company with $925 billion in assets, has the potential to partner with private equity General Atlantic to compete for the minority stake.

The EuroLeague includes 18 clubs and last season's champion was Panathinaikos, who added a 7th star to their jersey. Sponsors include Turkish Airlines, among others. In fact, with the presidents of the teams having put their hands deep into their pockets, upgrading the product, the number of viewers has also increased, especially in Turkey, Serbia, Greece, Spain, Lithuania and Italy.

In fact, research by PGIM showed that online viewers watching Euroleague matches jumped 46% to 85,000 in the 2023-24 season. For its part, BC Partners is expanding its sports portfolio, including a recent deal to buy a stake in GSE Worldwide. Private equities such as Luxembourg-based CVC are expanding their sports investments.

However, as the FT reports, while sport has been touted as a 'counter-cyclical' investment area with the ability to withstand economic downturns due to... fans' loyalty to the teams they support, some industry players have expressed concerns about high valuations in sports.