Ep. 12: The Future of Sports Media: Key Insights from Investor George Pyne

Bruin Capital George Pyne founded global sports investment firm Bruin Capital in 2015. Bruin Capital has invested in companies operating across 16 countries. As Pyne stated, "Our portfolio companies operate in 16 countries, we do business in 50, and we work with almost every major federation and club in the world." Sports as a Valuable Asset Class Pyne sees tremendous value in sports as an investment asset class. As he explained, "Sports as an asset class has been very durable. Over 30 years of team valuations of clubs have increased at a double digit pace. So sports is a very valuable and durable and reliable asset class and has been for over 30 years." He believes this growth comes from the sheer passion of sports fans globally. In Pyne's words, "It brings millions of people together around a passion point. It's global, it's passionate, and has hundreds of millions of followers." The Fan Experience Becomes More Direct Looking ahead, Pyne expects the relationship between fans and their favorite teams or athletes to become much more personalized. He stated, "I think with the fragmentation of media, the one to one relationship between the fan and their club and their player is going to become more critical." Pyne sees social media driving this shift, as it has allowed individual superstars like Messi and Ronaldo to foster direct connections with fans. Investing in the Sports Ecosystem Unlike private equity firms that acquire sports teams, Bruin Capital instead invests in the wider ecosystem around sports. Pyne focuses on data and technology companies that Bruin can help expand globally. He stated, "We really know Australia, the Americas and Europe and cross sell the services of our companies. On top of that we tend to like technology. So data and tech we're very comfortable with and of course we're in data and tech because there's a lot of growth there." The Cutting Edge of Technology Pyne stressed that we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg when it comes to sports media innovation. As he remarked, "You know, the one thing about technology is, you know, Carlo, it reinvents itself constantly. And so that reinvention means there are going to be all kinds of opportunities for other people." He pointed to artificial intelligence as an example of a rapidly advancing field that could soon transform the sports world. Quick Fire on U.S. Sports Business Trends Some rapid fire perspectives from Pyne on American sports: On a women's college volleyball game drawing 92,000 fans, Pyne commented "I think too people like to be together at kind of cool and exciting events and I think that's what was part of the equation." Regarding Las Vegas' unique Sphere venue, Pyne doesn't think it's a one-off, stating "I don't think it's a unicorn. And I think again, those unique experiences through technology that allow people to experience things that they couldn't do before, I think there's going to be more of that, not less of it." On Apple's landmark MLS deal, Pyne sees it as a major inflection point in the shift towards direct-to-consumer sports content. As he explained, "Apple is going to obviously with the global reach and global capabilities, apple, Amazon, YouTube, those types of platforms, you're going to see more and more sports content on those platforms." Pyne expects tech giants to increasingly follow Apple's lead in acquiring live sports rights as media becomes more fragmented. ESPN faces dual challenges from eroding pay TV subscriptions and the shift from "B2B2C" to direct "B2C" streaming. As Pyne outlined, "It's gone from 100 million subscribers to 74 million subscribers on the way to 50 million subscribers. That's a big reduction. And at the same time you're losing the pricing power." He noted ESPN will likely need to partner with a streaming specialist moving forward. However, Pyne reiterated "still, ESPN is a great brand, it's always going to have its place."