Investor interest in sports has never been higher. The Los Angeles Lakers basketball team is set to be sold for a record-breaking $12.5bn. FIFA chief Gianni Infantino is fighting for his future after his controversial bid to sell stakes in the World Cup was aborted. And Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is part of a consortium of investors eyeing a minority stake in Liverpool FC that values the club at as much as $6bn.
Even before this month’s frenzy, soaring US team valuations had already driven a wave of high-value deals – and lucrative mandates for the law firms following the rush by institutional investors to buy into the sector.