Professional sports teams can be incredibly valuable. Often selling for billions of dollars, they’re typically out of reach of the average individual investor. But that doesn’t mean that all small investors are necessarily shut out. Some teams actually trade as public companies that anyone can access through an ordinary brokerage account. And one upcoming corporate split will soon offer an interesting choice for investors who are fans of certain New York sports teams. Here are three ways investors can get in the game.
Read: Prediction markets like Kalshi are booming – but many have lost money
Atlanta Braves Holdings: A Relatively Pure Sports Play
One of the most straightforward ways to own a major U.S. sports franchise is to pick up shares of Atlanta Braves Holdings on the open market. This holding company owns both the baseball team and the stadium they play in, Truist Park. It also has interests in The Battery Atlanta, the mixed-use development surrounding the stadium. Shares with voting rights trade under the ticker BATRA, while non-voting shares use the symbol BATRK. Both offer the same economic interest in the company, although their share prices can differ. The main difference is that BATRA shareholders get one vote per share on corporate matters, while BATRK shareholders generally don’t get a vote. Shareholders aren’t simply making a bet on whether the Braves win games or sell tickets. There’s plenty of ancillary revenue flowing into the company, in the form of concessions, premium seating, sponsorships, broadcasting rights and merchandise, not to mention the rental income from its real estate holdings.
Company revenue reached $732.5 million in 2025, a significant jump from the $662.7 million reported the previous year. Through the first six months of 2026, Atlanta Braves Holdings revenue rose another 5%, hitting $377.1 million. Mixed-use development revenue jumped 26% over the same period. This diversification helps offset some of the ups and downs of the baseball business, as everything from television agreements to how far the team advances in the postseason can dramatically alter revenue. In 2026 the Braves made the playoffs – beating the Philadelphia Phillies in the Wild Card Series – but losing to the LA Dodgers in the NLDS.
There are also costs that come with fielding a competitive team. In the second quarter of 2026, for example, baseball operating expenses rose in part because of higher major league player salaries. Baseball revenue actually fell 4% during the quarter, although the company attributed much of that decline to playing six fewer home games than it did during the same period a year earlier. In other words, owning a baseball team may sound glamorous, but the economics can be volatile. Atlanta Braves Holdings does offer investors something unusual, however, in the form of both direct exposure to the value of a major professional sports franchise and the growing real estate operation built around it.
Related: Forget Microsoft: You don’t need Big Tech to invest in the AI data center boom
Madison Square Garden Sports: The Knicks and Rangers Are About to Split
Madison Square Garden Sports currently gives investors ownership exposure to two of New York’s best-known teams, the NBA’s Knicks and the NHL’s Rangers, through its ticker MSGS.
But that is about to change. The company expects to spin off the Rangers into a separate publicly traded company on Oct. 26, 2026. Madison Square Garden Sports will then become MSG Knickerbockers Corp., trading under the ticker MSGK, while the new Rangers company is expected to trade as MSGR.
The separation comes at a particularly interesting time for the Knicks. The team won the 2025-26 NBA championship, helping drive strong financial results for Madison Square Garden Sports.
For the fiscal year ended June 30, the company reported revenue of $1.15 billion, an increase of 11% from the previous year. Operating income nearly doubled to $28.9 million. In the fourth quarter alone, revenue jumped 37% to $278.7 million, with much of the increase coming from the Knicks’ playoff run. The company also reported higher average per-game revenue across tickets, suites, sponsorships and food, beverage and merchandise sales.
The Knicks and Rangers also have something most companies can never replicate: decades of history in the nation’s largest media market and an extremely limited supply of competing franchises.
Manchester United: Investing in a Global Sports Brand
The world of sports exists beyond the borders of the United States. Manchester United, for example, is one of the world’s best-known brands in the world’s most popular sport.
Perhaps surprisingly, Manchester United trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker MANU.
In addition to matchday revenue, Manchester United makes money through merchandise and licensing, sponsorships, and broadcasting rights. For the year ended June 30, 2026, Manchester United generated £677.6 million in revenue, up 1.7% from the previous year.
Broadcasting revenue jumped nearly 20% to £206.8 million, highlighting how the performance of a sports team can directly affect income. One of the main contributors to the boost in this revenue was the fact that the team improved from 15th place in the Premier League the previous season to third place in 2025-26. Commercial revenue was even larger than broadcasting revenue, coming in at £317.3 million. This catch-all category included £160.5 million in sponsorship revenue and £156.8 million from retail, merchandising, apparel and licensing. This highlights the benefits of Manchester United’s global appeal.
In spite of all this success and popularity, however, Manchester United posted a £43 million net loss for fiscal 2026. This was despite generating nearly £678 million in revenue and a £22.6 million operating profit.
What About the Green Bay Packers?
The Green Bay Packers are another example of a publicly owned professional sports team, but there’s a catch. Unlike the other options on this list, you can’t buy or sell Packers stock on a public exchange. The legendary NFL team has sold shares to fans periodically, most recently in 2022. But shares don’t pay dividends and aren’t designed to generate a profit for shareholders, per the Packers themselves.
Should You Invest in Your Favorite Team?
Buying stock in a professional sports franchise is a very different type of investment from buying a jersey or rooting for the team on Sunday. By owning shares, your fortunes can actually rise and fall with those of the team. Atlanta Braves Holdings offers one of the more direct ways to invest in a U.S. sports franchise, with the added benefit of its surrounding real estate holdings.
The upcoming Madison Square Garden Sports split will give investors unusually targeted exposure to either the Knicks or Rangers, two franchises operating in one of the world’s biggest sports markets. Manchester United provides exposure to a global soccer brand with revenue coming from sponsorships, broadcasting, merchandise and fans around the world.
While each of these three companies offers potential upside, they also come with specialized risks that investors don’t encounter with most businesses. Player salaries, for example, can skyrocket at any time, and they seem to always trend higher. Team performance can dramatically affect revenue from year to year. And contracts with media outlets can go through boom and bust phases.
Being a great team and being a great investment aren’t always the same thing. A company with an exciting product doesn’t necessarily mean that its stock will provide equally impressive returns. But for those with the right risk tolerance and a desire to own even a part of a professional sports team, there are options that don’t require being a billionaire.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
