As the business side of team sports, such as football, becomes larger and more complex, the opportunities for banks to provide financing solutions for the individuals and institutions involved proliferate. At Deutsche Bank's private bank, it sees considerable opportunities ahead.

With American and other non-UK investors/owners buying into UK football teams, it has highlighted that handling the financial side of sports is now a distinct asset class that even those uninterested in sports should consider.

Deutsche Bank’s private banking arm certainly considers sports finance a sufficiently large area to warrant a specialist offering, as announced a few days ago. The business focuses on Europe and the US. 

The financing business is led by Arjun Nagarkatti, who is the head of the private bank for the US and Europe international business. Deutsche Bank has appointed Sowmya Kotha in London and Joshua Frank in New York, who report to Adam Russ, head of wealth management and business lending.

“Sport can be a local passion project. However, it is becoming more of a legitimate asset class. Even a non-sports person should look at sports,” Nagarkatti told WealthBriefing in a meeting at the German bank’s London offices in the City. “These are big businesses and a lot of people still don’t know how big they are.”

Family offices/ultra HNW individuals are trying to take a “more institutional” approach to transacting in sports teams, he said. 

Setting up such a business feeds into the specialist lending and financial advisory work that Deutsche has discussed with this publication in recent months. (See an example here – via Hong Kong.) This work uses the combined private bank/investment banking connections where private clients will also have operating business concerns.

The sports financing business shows that this area is not simply a private banking niche. Rival Citigroup, for example, spoke to this news service in 2025 about its work with ultra-wealthy people wanting to buy, sell and run sports teams. Our US correspondent recently wrote about opportunities for wealth management arising from changes in college sports.

The expanded capability at Deutsche on the sports side is “significant for the bank,” Nagarkatti said. “It is a core focus for us.”

UHNW sports owners/potential owners tend to be ideal clients – they are internationally minded, want advice and guidance on financial/personal wealth matters, he continued. “This is a big opportunity for us and it is a consistent connection we have had with clients, and we have been doing this for 10 to 15 years.”

Deutsche is initially concentrating on the English Premier League. As its US franchise has expanded, this has led to financing across all four major US sports leagues: National Football League; Major League Baseball; National Basketball Association, and National Hockey League.

Mention of cross-border owners of clubs leads to potential owners of, say, a UK football club needing to understand that when they buy a team, they’re also buying into hopes and dreams. Owners raise their heads above a parapet – not always a fun experience.

“You become a public figure,” Nagarkatti said. 

One example that springs to mind is Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the billionaire founder of INEOS, the chemical producer who took a 27.7 per cent stake in Manchester United more than a year ago. While well known in business circles before buying into the “Red Devils” –

one of the most famous sports institutions in the world – his profile has risen since, with every comment – controversial or otherwise – analysed, not always kindly. 

American owners of teams have to adjust to the risk, for example when a football (soccer) team gets relegated, Nagarkatti said. Anyone looking to own a club must understand risks, including how their public profile, assuming they were very private people, rises rapidly, and in ways that are not always comfortable if a team has problems, he said. 

There is a need for realism.

“When you buy these top assets, you must spend time and work them and increase their value. You must be prepared to invest time, such as on the team, stadiums, facilities,” Nagarkatti said. “It is like buying a hotel. You cannot just sit there and think it will go up in value by 10 times.”

For the wealth management industry in general, the business of sports teams, as well as the individual financial affairs of sportsmen and women, has become a distinct – and large – specialism. For example, the Rockefeller Global Family Office has experts who look after athletes and entertainers. Other firms that have expertise in and around sports include Carnegie Private Wealth, for example, and Merrill Lynch Management. In the UK, the private banking group Coutts has a sports, media and entertainment division for its wealthy clients. Standard Chartered, the UK-listed bank with a significant presence in Asia, has launched a new alternative fund focused on sports for ultra-high net worth and high net worth clients under its Global Private Bank. Standard Chartered is a sponsor of Liverpool FC. 

Deutsche Bank announced 2025 full-year and fourth-quarter financial results here.