Matt Vokes

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64 appearances 1 recordings 1 series first heard Jul 2026 last heard 29 Jul

Matt Vokes’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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Critical thinking · What’s driving institutional interest in professional sports? · 29 Jul 2026 podcast

Welcome to Critical Thinking, Mercer's regular deep dive into the topics and trends playing out across portfolios.

I'm your host, Matt Vokes, our Alternatives Investment Leader here at Mercer, and today we're turning to a market that has long occupied a very particular place in the investment world, professional sports.

For decades, sports ownership was often seen less as a conventional investment and more as a trophy asset shaped by loyalty, legacy, visibility, and in some cases, influence.

It was a world where scarcity mattered, emotions mattered, and access was limited.

That picture is beginning to change.

As the business of sport becomes more global, more sophisticated, and more connected to media, technology, data, and live entertainment, investors are starting to look at the sector through a different lens.

The question is no longer just who gets to own a piece of the game.

It's whether professional sports can become a more meaningful part of the private market's opportunity set and what they need to understand before they step in.

To explore this, I'm joined by Neil Blundell, the CIO at Case Advisors, and Kathleen Abley, our private equity research specialist here at Mercer.

So let's get started.

We'll start with the thought that professional sports used to be viewed as a trophy asset.

What is changing that perception today?

So I think that's an important point to touch on, right?

Because when we think about constructing a portfolio, either at the high net worth or retail or the institutional side, you really want to make sure diversification is actually true diversification, different drivers of return.

Right.

So when we think about investing in the sports or sports adjacent, as Neil talked about, where are you finding the interesting opportunities across this now broad landscape?

Is it franchises?

Is it media?

Is it entertainment?

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