Communications & Media

Keeping Score: Sports Value Trends

By: Vince Valentini, Natale Puccia, Carter Sullivan

Jan. 05, 2026 - 2 minutes

TV camera operator filming at a sports stadium.

What You Need to Know:

North American sports assets have consistently delivered resilient, uncorrelated returns over time.
Demand for sports remains robust owing to capital from private equity firms (relatively new to the space), coupled with a growing number of billionaires and few league expansions.
Major North American sports team values are well supported by substantial increases in media rights.
Key beneficiaries of sports value trends and monetization are media and communications providers.

The TD Cowen Insight

In our full report below, we cite how a leading national media and communications company's monetization of its sports assets is a key catalyst and we expect them to execute on this initiative over the next ~18 months through a series of strategic steps. Another media and communications company's national hockey team minority stake will likely be sold in the next few years. Sports franchise values continue to trend higher, and we outline why we view these trends as durable.

Our Thesis

We offer an in-depth perspective on the core aspects driving North American sports values higher. Private equity investors have recently entered this space, owing to easing minority ownership restrictions. This shift has attracted significant new capital to the industry. We emphasize the compelling value of sports assets, which have consistently delivered resilient, uncorrelated returns over time.

What Is Proprietary?

Our full report offers multiple pro forma forecast and valuation scenarios for these leading media and communications companies at the end of 2027, based on various potential outcomes from the monetization process.

Financial and Industry Model Implications

We are not changing estimates with this note, but our pro forma estimates post sports monetization can be used as an illustrative example of what companies could look like at the end of 2027.

What To Watch

We expect higher National Hockey League (NHL) team values from Forbes in December 2025 and Major League Baseball (MLB) values in March 2026. National Basketball Association (NBA) team values rose 21% year-over-year in October.

Subscribing clients can read the full report, Keeping Score: Sports Value Trends & Monetization Catalyst - Ahead Of The Curve, on the TD One Portal

Disclaimer

The views or opinions expressed herein represent the personal views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of TD Securities or its affiliates.

This material is intended to provide commentary on the market for commodities discussed herein.

Not Advice: The information contained in this material is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide professional, investment or any other type of advice or recommendation, or to create a fiduciary relationship. Neither TD Securities (USA) LLC (“TD Securities USA”) nor any of its affiliates (collectively, “TD”) makes any representation or warranty, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, reliability, completeness, appropriateness or sufficiency for any purpose of any information included in this material. Certain information may have been provided by third-party sources and, while believed to be reliable, has not been independently verified by TD, and its accuracy or completeness acannot be guaranteed. You should not make an investment decision in reliance on this material, which is intended to provide only brief comments on the topics addressed, and is based on information that is likely to change without notice.

Not Securities or Derivatives Research: This material has not been produced, reviewed or approved by TD’s securities or derivatives research departments. The views of the author may differ from others at TD, including TD securities or derivatives research analysts. Not Independent: The views expressed in this material may not be independent of the interests of TD. TD may engage in conflicting activities, including principal trading before or after posting this material, or other services involving commodities discussed in this material, or related financial products. TD may have a financial interest in the commodities discussed in this material, including, without limitation, a financial product that references such commodities.

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Vince Valentini

Managing Director, Equity Research, TD Cowen

Vince Valentini
Managing Director, Equity Research, TD Cowen

Biography

Vince is a Managing Director in the Institutional Equities department of TD Cowen. Vince works in equity research covering telecom, cable & electronic publishing stocks. He has been covering the telecom and media industries as an equity research analyst since 1993. In 2006 and 2012, Vince was the number one ranked Telecom analyst in Canada and has consistently been ranked as one of the top four analysts of that sector. Vince also received the 2009 StarMine Canada Analyst Awards for Number 1 Stock Picker in both the Telecommunication and Media sectors and the 2010 StarMine Canada Analyst Award for Number 1 Stock Picker in the Telecommunication Sector.