Beyond the Game: How LEGENDS ONE Wants to Connect Sports and Capital

Sports is becoming more than a game. Patrick Becker, CEO of LEGENDS ONE Group, explains how capital, athletes, technology, and global networks are reshaping the business of sports.

Sports is no longer just entertainment. Media rights, sponsorships, technology, data, healthcare, and lifestyle have created a global economic ecosystem around professional sports. At the same time, athletes are increasingly becoming entrepreneurs and investors in their own right.

For Patrick Becker, this points to a broader transformation. The CEO of LEGENDS ONE Group sees sports as a market that is increasingly suited to professional investment structures. The focus is not simply on stakes in sports teams or traditional sports rights, but on connecting capital, companies, athletes, media, and communities.

In this interview, Becker explains why he sees sports as a powerful asset class, what role athletes can play in this model, and why the U.S. sports market is particularly important to the international development of LEGENDS ONE Group.

Sports as an Emerging Asset Class

Mr. Becker, you describe sports as an asset class. What makes it investable?

Patrick Becker: When we talk about sports today, we’re talking about much more than the competition itself. There’s a whole economy around sports – media, technology, data, healthcare, fitness, entertainment, and lifestyle.

At the same time, sports has incredibly strong brands and a level of emotional engagement that you don’t find in many other industries. That combination of economic activity, reach, and community makes it very interesting.

But we can’t just declare sports an asset class. The real question is whether there are sustainable business models behind it that can generate economic value and grow over time.

How LEGENDS ONE Looks Beyond Traditional Sports Investments

How does that differ from traditional sports investments?

Becker: Traditionally, when people talked about sports investments, they often meant a team, a league, or media rights. We look at it more broadly.

Coming from the industry, we look at the entire ecosystem around sports. That includes companies in sports technology, healthcare and performance, media, and areas where sports and lifestyle come together.

So the fundamental question is: Where is economic value being created around sports, and which companies are in a position to benefit from it?

Why Networks Matter

You want to connect capital, companies, athletes, and media. Why is that network so important?

Becker: Because capital alone isn’t always enough. Especially for young or growing companies, relationships, market knowledge, and access to the right partners can make a real difference.

That’s why we try to bring different groups together – investors, companies, athletes, and industry experts. The network isn’t an end in itself. It’s about giving people better access to information, companies, and business opportunities.

Access as an Investment Advantage

That brings us to something that can be difficult to measure in investment markets: access.

Becker: Absolutely. Access is a very important part of the model. People who have spent years working in professional sports have experience and relationships that you simply can’t get from a database.

That can help us spot developments earlier or look at a business model from a different perspective. But a relationship alone doesn’t make an investment. At the end of the day, the underlying economics have to work.

Why Athletes Matter to the LEGENDS ONE Investment Model

Athletes play an important role in your model. Why is that?

Becker: Because their role has changed quite a bit. A successful athlete today is often much more than a professional competitor. Many are building companies, investing in startups, or developing their own brands.

That creates interesting opportunities. An athlete can be an investor, but also an entrepreneur, a strategic partner, or a gateway into a particular community. So we don’t see athletes simply as brand ambassadors.

What can an athlete bring to a company that a traditional investor might not?

Becker: Experience in sports, credibility, and reach are certainly three factors. Personal networks are another.

If an athlete has spent many years competing in a particular sport, they understand how it works, who the key players are, and often what the market actually needs. That can be very valuable to a company.

The Emotional Power of Sports

Your network includes sports figures and personalities from different fields. How important is that diversity?

Becker: It’s very important. Sports isn’t one homogeneous market. Tennis works differently from soccer, and winter sports have different structures from golf. The economic dynamics can be very different as well.

But sports is also driven by emotion. Fans build strong relationships with athletes, teams, and competitions. That emotional connection creates a level of engagement and loyalty that’s difficult to replicate in many other industries.

So we don’t want to represent just one sport. We want to bring together different perspectives, expertise, and emotional connections to sports. That’s where a network can create real value.

Why the U.S. Market Matters

You have an international strategy and are putting a lot of emphasis on the United States. What makes the U.S. sports market so attractive?

Becker: The U.S. has developed a particularly strong connection between sports, media, entertainment, and capital. The major professional leagues aren’t just sports organizations. They’re also powerful media and entertainment brands with highly developed commercial structures.

That creates an environment where sports and business are very closely connected.

What can Europe learn from the U.S. model?

Becker: I wouldn’t say Europe should simply copy the American model. Europe has its own strengths. We have highly established sports brands and enormous international reach, particularly in soccer. Motorsports and winter sports also have significant global appeal.

For me, the interesting opportunity is in connecting those different strengths. The U.S. has a highly developed commercial sports market. Europe has strong sports brands and international communities. An international platform can connect those markets.

And what role does Asia play?

Becker: Asia is another very important market. New sports and technology markets are developing there, and digitalization is changing how people access and consume sports.

If you think internationally, you can’t limit the perspective to Europe and the U.S. We see Europe, the U.S., and Asia as important parts of a global network, while continuing to explore opportunities on other continents as well.

From Fans to Communities

You also talk about fans as part of this ecosystem. Isn’t that mainly a marketing issue?

Becker: Marketing is certainly part of it, but it goes beyond that. Sports fans have an incredibly strong emotional connection to their teams, athletes, and brands. That sets sports apart from many other industries.

A fan today isn’t just interested in the result. They follow an athlete’s career, their business activities, their life outside sports, and the stories around them. That can create communities with real economic relevance.

What does that mean specifically for LEGENDS ONE?

Becker: We want to create different forms of access. That could mean events, conferences, or other formats that bring athletes, companies, and investors together. The goal is to turn reach into real relationships.

When Media Becomes Infrastructure

That gives media an unusually important role in your model.

Becker: Media can be an important piece of the infrastructure behind a network like this. Content and research create visibility and information. Events bring people together. Social media can extend those relationships.

The basic idea is pretty simple: reach can create community, community can create relationships, and relationships can create business opportunities. If I’ve learned one thing from my time in sports, it’s this.

What role does your own network play in that?

Becker: A network is only valuable if you can actually use it. We don’t want to simply build a long list of names. What matters is the experience, market knowledge, and relationships each person brings to the table.

That’s why the quality of the network matters more than its size.

From Personal Networks to Digital Structures

Sports has traditionally been built around personal relationships. At the same time, you want to digitalize investment processes. Is that a contradiction?

Becker: No. Quite the opposite. Personal relationships can provide access. Professional digital processes can then make sure that access is handled in a structured way.

That includes digital subscription processes, investor administration, reporting, and transparent documentation. We want to combine personal networks with professional structures.

How the LEGENDS ONE Network Creates Value

You also emphasize governance. Why is that particularly important for sports investments?

Becker: Because a growing market needs clear structures.

The larger the network becomes and the more capital is involved, the more important transparent decision-making and clearly defined responsibilities become.

If sports is going to develop further as an investment market, the professionalism of its structures has to develop with it.

Turning Networks Into Economic Value

Where do you currently see the biggest challenge?

Becker: Scaling. Building a network is one thing. Turning that network into sustainable economic value is another.

We have to show that the connections between companies, athletes, and investors can actually create attractive investment opportunities and successful business relationships. Ultimately, that’s what matters.

That sounds considerably more pragmatic than some of the rhetoric around a new asset class.

Becker: It has to be. We want to build a platform for the long term. Enthusiasm for sports alone isn’t enough.

We need attractive companies, professional investment processes, clear structures, and, ultimately, economic results. The passion for sports is the starting point. The quality of the investment determines the economic outcome.

Building the LEGENDS ONE Global Sports Investment Platform

So is the long-term goal really to build a platform rather than a traditional investment company?

Becker: That’s the idea. We don’t want to simply provide capital. We want to connect capital with the other elements that matter in sports.

Companies need capital and access. Investors need opportunities and information. Athletes can contribute experience, reach, and networks. Media can create visibility. If all of these elements come together effectively, a distinct model can emerge.

What Comes Next? The Future of LEGENDS ONE and Sports Investments

Looking five years ahead, where do you want LEGENDS ONE to be?

Becker: Our goal is to build an international investment platform for the sports ecosystem, supported by a strong network of athletes and experts and a professional investment structure.

The objective isn’t to accumulate as many investments as possible. We want to identify companies where we can create economic value. At the same time, we want to continue expanding our network internationally.

What needs to happen for sports to truly become an independent asset class?

Becker: Ultimately, the market has to demonstrate that sustainable value can be created. That requires attractive business models, professional structures, transparency, and successful investments.

The emotional power of sports is an important starting point. But it doesn’t replace economic analysis.

If you had to sum up your strategy in one sentence, what would it be?

Becker: We want to connect the economic opportunities in sports with capital, entrepreneurship, and an international network.

One final question: What personally fascinates you about this development?

Becker: Sports connects people in a way that very few other things can.

At the same time, that emotional space is becoming increasingly relevant economically. Athletes are becoming entrepreneurs, fans are becoming communities, media are becoming platforms, and sports organizations are becoming global brands.

I believe we’re still at the beginning of this development.