Sports IP Revenue League: Methodology And References

Measuring the Size of the Sports Industry

There are several ways to calculate the size of the sports industry and assess the value and income created by sports IP owners. Revenue, profit, asset value, or asset drivers such as consumption and demand are all suitable methods for assessing the health of the industry. For the purposes of this report, the size of the sports industry has been calculated using annualized revenues derived from Sports IP. Revenue provides the most consistent accounting methodology to facilitate cross-sport, cross-region comparisons over time, making it the most reliable basis for analysis across the industry.

Defining Annualized Revenues of Sports IP Owners

The $174bn annualized revenues generated by Sports IP Owners in 2025 is based on publicly available financial data for 2025, or modelled from publicly available data for previous years. Where 2025 revenue data is not yet available, either industry knowledge or an industry average CAGR has been applied to previously available figures.

Annualized revenues include value generated through the exchange of rights monetized either direct to consumer (D2C), covering tickets, experiences, subscriptions, and merchandise, or via businesses (B2B) through third parties purchasing media, sponsorship, licensing, or betting rights. Revenues generated by IP owners who retain proprietary bookmaking rights (e.g. Hong Kong Jockey Club) have been included, but revenues where those rights are sold to third parties such as Ladbrokes or Bet365 have not. Revenues are also excluded where investment is made with the intention of increasing the value of rights or growing the asset value of an IP owner.

The sports industry is largely built on confederated systems in which revenues are shared across multiple organizations. To ensure accuracy, revenues are counted only once within the ecosystem, at the point at which they first reach the value-generating IP owner, and not again as value flows through the system via distributions or wages (“new-to-ecosystem revenue” is how we refer to this methodology throughout the report). For example, media rights revenues paid to leagues such as the NFL, Premier League, Bundesliga, or F1 are not also counted for the participating clubs, franchises, or teams. Equally, media rights revenues that pass through a league and are subsequently paid to players or athletes as wages are not counted again under athlete revenues.

All annualized revenues are summarized in US dollars for consistency. To convert figures into US dollars, the 12-month average exchange rates for 2025 have been applied.

The Universe of Sports IP Owners

All regions around the world have been included to provide a figure for the total global sporting universe. Where Sports IP Owners operate in multiple regions, revenues are allocated according to the location of the headquarters.

The following definitions apply throughout this report:

• Sports IP refers to the proprietary owner of sports events, sports rights, or sports codes that are generating economic value.
• Owners refers to the ultimate owner and operator of sports IP, including relevant departments, products, and subsidiaries effectively operating one or more sports IPs as part of a wider organization. It excludes organizations that hold rights for a fixed period but are not the ultimate owners, such as broadcasters and betting houses.
• Sport broadly refers to activities involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another for entertainment (as defined by The Oxford English Dictionary). The scope of what constitutes “sport” is an enduring debate and one not fully resolved here. However, clear parameters have been defined. Team sports such as soccer, baseball, cricket, and basketball are included, as are all recognized Olympic sports including swimming, cycling, archery, and gymnastics. Esports, sports-related video games, darts, and snooker are also included. Excluded from this report are chess, bridge, Irish dancing, ballet, abseiling, and axe throwing.

Please contact Two Circles if further clarification of inclusions and exclusions are required.

Sports IP owners included within scope are international federations, national associations, leagues, teams/franchises, event operators, sports video game IP owners, esports IP owners, athletes.

• International sports federations: Organizations affiliated with the IOC, Paralympics, and other international federated sports organizations. e.g. World Rugby, World Athletics, FIFA, FIS.
• National sports associations: National sports associations or federations within the above International Federation criteria e.g. The FA, FTT, SARU, AFA, DFL.
• Sports Leagues: Leagues operating competitions and tournaments within or across internationally and nationally recognized sports e.g. NFL, Premier League, NPB.
• Sports Teams/franchises: Teams/franchises within the above listed leagues e.g. Kansas City Chiefs, Manchester United, Gujarat Titans, Yomiuri Giants, TSM (Team SoloMid).
• Sports Event Organizers: Independent IP owners, not included in the above criteria, who operate sports events e.g. Wimbledon, Augusta National, The Grand National, Tour de France, FC Pro Open, or mass participation event organizers in sport e.g. London Marathon Events Ltd, New York Road Runners, Spartan Events.
• Sports video games (console & mobile): sports-based video games that leverage sports IP from internationally recognized sports federations or leagues g. EA FC, NBA 2K, EA F1, and EA Madden.
• Athletes: All off-field endorsement packages for athletes competing, participating, or performing in any of the above sports are included where the revenues are the first entry point into the ecosystem. This includes revenues generated through player-athlete unions or athletes representing themselves as individuals, e.g. brand deals. Most on-field athlete monetization typically happens upstream in the sports ecosystem and will be included once at the first entry point in the value exchange with third parties at a league, club, or association level. Athletes typically benefit via wages or prize money through the value already captured in the sports ecosystem. However, there are some sports structured where athletes are the first entry point into the ecosystem via a performance fee or participation fee in the event e.g. boxing. Therefore, revenues generated by boxers are included as the first point of sports IP into the ecosystem.

Top Entertainment Mediums by Annualized Revenues

A bottom-up analysis of annualized revenues realised by sports IP owners has been conducted using the methodology outlined above, and projected forward based on three core growth levers identified in this report.

To contextualise the projected 5% CAGR growth for sports IP over the next decade, comparisons have been drawn against the performance of other entertainment mediums. This illustrates both the strength of sports IP and its resilience in the face of shifting consumption patterns across the broader entertainment landscape.

Sports IP acts as a value driver across all listed mediums. This analysis is structured to ensure zero duplication of revenues. For example, whilst traditional television is a significant contributor to the overall value of sports IP, any subscription or advertising revenue realised by broadcasters is attributed to the “Traditional Television” medium, whilst broadcast rights fees are recognized against Sports IP.

References and Footnotes

When referencing Two Circles analysis in footnotes, please refer to our methodology on this page above.