Alternative Investing Report - November 29, 2024

*as of 11/28; Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, LX1000

As the value of sports franchises have grown exponentially in the past couple of decades, the sports industry has become a much more popular and intriguing asset class. Goldman Sachs released a report about the future of sports investing, which touched on how rising values have made it necessary for leagues be open to institutional investment. Media rights are driving the value of sports teams and leagues, with global sports such as soccer and cricket seeing rapid growth in the past few years. Other growth areas include women’s sports, college sports, and youth sports, all of which have significant potential.

➨ TAKEAWAY: Individual investors, both high net-worth and retail, have begun to see more opportunities to invest into sports teams and sport-adjacent businesses. While values have been increasing rapidly, buying into a frothy market has risks, partly due to the lack of liquidity options. Still, the opportunities bring the potential for strong financial benefits as well as non-financial benefits that come with owning a share of a favorite sports team.

AI chatbots have begun to proliferate, most commonly in customer service settings but also as a way for people to have social interactions. While many are unhappy with customer service bots, it’s the “companion apps” that could create bigger problems. More 20 million people use Character.AI, and the bots are only becoming more sophisticated, posing a risk for young people in particular. Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt issued a warning around the risk of “AI girlfriends” and a mother filed a lawsuit against Character.AI and Google because her 14 year-old son died by suicide after becoming obsessed with a chatbot. Plenty of dystopian fiction has touched on the idea of humans having relationships with robots, but with the rapid advance of AI, these scenarios are becoming all too real.

🏡 2025 apartment supply forecast: The U.S. is projected to add more than 500,000 units next year, with New York leading the way by raw total, but Sun Belt markets seeing the highest gains by percentage.

🚀 Autonomous vehicle funding: The AV space has seen its funding levels triple this year to $7.5 billion, led by Waymo and Wayve, with some car manufacturers also spending big on their own self-driving units.

🎨 October auction sales: While not reaching the heights of the main November auctions, October also saw some notable sales, led by David Hockney’s $17.2 million “L’Arbois, Sainte-Maxime” and Lucian Freud’s $15.4 million “Ria, Naked Portrait.”

🪙 Thanksgiving crypto guide: As the crypto market booms, crypto-curious people are turning to family and friends for advice, and this guide provides talking points to help explain the current state of the industry to them.

📩 John Lennon letter: A handwritten letter from the Beatles legend to Eric Clapton asking the guitarist to form a band together is being auctioned next week, and is expected to sell for $150,000.

💵 BlackRock acquires HPS: The alternative asset manager is buying the private credit firm for $12 billion as it continues to expand its footprint in the asset class.

Monday: 🎨 Art auction recap, 🤖 AI market report
Tuesday: 🚀 VC firm profits, 🏡 2025 Housing market outlook
Wednesday: 🏡 Home value update,🪙 MicroStrategy and Bitcoin

Have a great weekend!