Common Issues with Revenue Generated from Broadcasting Right
February 12, 2025
In the previous articles, we have already seen that sporting franchises are required to raise a lot of capital at regular intervals. Hence, they are required to regularly raise debt from the marketplace. However, it is important to note that the decision regarding how much debt can be raised by a sporting franchise is not […]
In the second week of March 2023, the Silicon Valley Bank, which is headquartered in Santa Clara California collapsed in spectacular fashion. The shares of the bank fell by over 60% in one day. There was a classic run on the bank which led to a collapse almost overnight! This created a panic-like situation across […]
Entrepreneurs who start up new companies have to deal with a lot of different types of stakeholders. As a result, they have to enter into a wide variety of agreements with these different stakeholders. Over the course of time, it is possible that the entrepreneur and an external party may not agree on some of […]
Lyft is one of the most famous tech unicorns in the world. There was tremendous amount of buzz in the market regarding the Lyft IPO. This is the reason that the company has been able to garner a valuation of close to $24 billion. This astronomical valuation is despite the fact that the company has […]
The capitalization table is a very important record for any startup company. These tables provide a clear and unambiguous report of who owns and controls what percentage of the startup’s shares. It is considered to be the final and irrefutable record that provides details about the ownership of the company. Since decisions involving financing, sale, […]
In the previous articles, we have already come across a couple of methods used for the valuation of a sports franchise. However, we know that both of those methods have certain shortcomings which make them unsuitable for the valuation of a sports franchise.
In this article, we will discuss a third approach called the market approach. The market approach is the most widely used approach when it comes to the valuation of sports franchises. The details of the market approach as well as the pros and cons of this approach have been discussed below:
The market approach towards the valuation of a sports franchise means that the value of the franchise will be derived based on arms-length, third-party sales, or transaction data regarding the various assets owned by the franchise. This means that the value of the franchise will be calculated as the sum of its parts.
Instead, of valuing the entire sporting franchise as one unit, the market approach advocates breaking down the assets and liabilities of the franchise into its component parts such as player contracts, brand value, stadium leases, etc.
The logic behind this approach is that the valuation of the franchise as a whole is quite difficult. However, it is possible and even convenient to accurately estimate the sum of the parts that create the franchise. Hence, the value of each part can be found out and it can later be summed up in order to derive the valuation of the franchise.
For example, the financial value of any team is largely influenced by the players who play for the team. Now, even though transactions regarding the sale and purchase of sporting franchises do not take place every day, it is common for players to be transferred across teams.
Hence, the market value of an individual player can be found by obtaining such data and then using mathematical analysis. It is common for the analysis to include the price of a rookie player and then make adjustments for experience, fan following, and brand value.
Similarly, it is possible to estimate the financial value that each and every player brings to the overall team by making adjustments on top of an already determined base value.
The fundamental premise is that it is easier to derive the market value of the component parts and then sum it up. Let’s have a look at some of the pros and cons of this approach.
The benefits of using the market approach for the valuation of a sporting franchise are as follows:
Also, it is not common for sporting franchises to be sold and bought regularly. However, when it comes to players or the contracts signed by franchises, there is an abundance of data available. It is possible to use this data as a marker for the overall valuation of the firm. This is the reason why the market-based valuation approach is the one that is followed by franchises around the world.
In the case of the market approach, both cash flows as well as the valuation of assets are considered. It can be viewed as a hybrid method that uses either a cash flow based or replacement cost-based approach to derive the market value of individual assets which are then combined.
However, when it comes to a market-based approach, the data from the sporting industry itself is used for valuation. Hence, this data can be considered to be more accurate and reflects the relative valuation based on the norms of the sporting industry.
The disadvantages of using the market-based approach are as follows:
We already know from portfolio theory that a simple mathematical sum cannot be used to determine the financial value of assets. Correlation as well as other factors also need to be taken into account which is not done in such cases.
The fact of the matter is that the market-based approach is the best mechanism when it comes to the valuation of a sports franchise.
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *