As an investment vehicle, athlete syndicates remain in the nascent stage. Yet as the infrastructure, education and technology supporting them matures, a far more athlete-owned sports industry seems on the cards.
The Long Game talks to Malcolm Lemmons, founder of Vetted Sports, a multi-media and tech platform focused on the sports asset class, to get his take on where we’re heading.
Q: Athlete syndicates are a growing phenomenon. Why?
“There are a couple of different reasons. There’s that feeling of being in the locker room – when you take that ecosystem or environment and just place it in a different arena, it still gives them that same feel of camaraderie, of pulling together resources and knowledge to accomplish a goal. Also from an education standpoint, being able to learn together and build towards something bigger with a lot of potential upside is attractive.
Technology has also played a part as well. There are platforms that help athletes co- invest, do due diligence on deals together, and maintain that collaboration and communication.”
Q: In which areas are they currently most prevalent?
“Most opportunities exist in sectors where athletes can provide a lot of cultural influence and impact. So, anything consumer package goods, nutrition or wellness related.
And then there’s sport tech. Athletes have a deeper understanding of how to utilise technology because it’s integrated in their daily lives. For example, we’re seeing extended reality and AI help athletes perform better. Whether that’s on the nutrition side or recovery training tools, athletes are involving themselves in technology that makes sure they’re at peak performance, that can extend their playing careers.”
Q: How might the sport tech space develop?
“Athletes will have more of an influence on the development of new technology because of their position as end user. Not only can they provide capital, but they can provide suggestions and advice from a consumer standpoint that can help shape the product development, that can help shape marketing. There’s a feedback loop there that’s really valuable to startups.
I think a lot of startups are strategically thinking about how athletes can provide value outside of the capital. And I think the biggest ways are in them trying the product, being able to help improve the product, and being able to help market it.”
Q: Which of sport’s traditional commercial drivers is most ripe for disruption?
“Broadcasting rights. Now that athletes have their own platforms and storytelling vehicles, they can, in theory, cut out the middlemen – something we’re already seeing with Baller League and Kings League. They’re digital and social first and they’re allowing the creators to stream the games on their own channel, leveraging that built-in audience.
I think there’s something by which athletes could create their own media platforms and channels, and have their own partners and sponsors co-brand on those channels and have their own distribution built in.
But the big leagues (e.g. the NBA, the NFL) seem untouchable at this point. It’d be a lot more challenging to really disrupt that just given their stature, the scale of the leagues, the fragmentation of the audience and how global they are.
It would probably happen on a smaller scale in an emerging league where there are a few athletes who can command a lot of attention, have a loyal fan base and can really position themselves to do something like that.”
“Now that athletes have storytelling vehicles they can, in theory, cut out the middlemen”
Q: What about athletes owning the leagues they participate in?
“I think this could happen most realistically in women’s sports. We’re seeing this around the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiations where women are trying to advocate and fight for certain structural changes to get increased pay or health benefits.
It’s more possible on the women’s sports level just because they’ve been so disenfranchised and the leagues aren’t as mature. There’s an opportunity in women’s sports to build some type of syndicate model and advocate for specific changes around the distribution of the media rights, ownership rules or player benefits.
I can also see a world where athletes significantly impact the number of games that they play on any given year, given how prevalent injuries are in numerous sports. At the end of the day, fans are more invested in the athletes than they are the actual league. Without them, the leagues don’t exist.”
Q: Would that mean better leagues?
“Ultimately, I think so. I think any time you give somebody a seat at the table and they’re able to participate in the upside of whatever they’re a part of, they’re more invested. They’re more invested in the success, they care more. They’re not just being handed a pay cheque, but they want to see the league do well and will act in the league’s best interest because they have a stake in it.”
Q: Which untapped areas of sport are most ripe for opportunity?
“Real estate. I think that’s the next frontier of sport: specifically mixed-use venues, where fans can shop, work and live all around an arena. A 360-degree experience around their favourite teams. I think that’s going to be prevalent going forward as you’re seeing a lot of new facilities, stadiums and arenas being constructed within women’s sport but also a lot of redevelopments within men’s sport.
I think there’s a world where athletes can own some of that retail around the arena. Maybe it’s their own merchandising store. Imagine a LeBron type pop-up around Cypto.com Arena. If athlete syndicates can invest in a piece of that real estate around a stadium or arena, they’ll naturally benefit from the growth in the valuation of that infrastructure. That’s a big opportunity and something I think athlete syndicates haven’t really touched on.”
Q: Where do you think this space is headed in the next decade?
“I definitely see a world where athletes are collectively owning parts of an organisation at a wider scale. They’re owning a piece of the infrastructure, the real estate, or the training facilities. And they’re owning stakes in the leagues as well. We’re already seeing it on a smaller scale, but I think we’ll see it across the board with many other athletes as their understanding of their cultural influence, their understanding of the power they have increases.
We’re in the era of the billion-dollar athlete. Take Cooper Flagg, the recent 2025 top pick in the NBA draft, for example. He’s on place to earn close to a billion dollars before turning 32 years old from player contracts. This doesn’t include other investments, endorsements, or incentives.
As a result of increasing media rights deals, we’re ushering in an entirely new paradigm of wealthy athletes. This provides a whole different level of options and power.
Going forward, it’s about collective organisation and placing a structure around that. It’s not just about doing deals. Athletes are more concerned with building empires. If the big-name athletes can influence and impact the next generation – and give them the game on how to build a business around yourself – we’ll see situations where athletes own a stake in the league itself.”
