Want To Close The Black Ownership Gap In Sports?

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The business of sports reaches across several verticals to impact our lives every day. Whether it’s the retail business or the billion-dollar media deals determining new and exciting ways that we can consume our favorite leagues, one thing for sure is that we’re in a sports boom. In 2023, the global sports economy is expected to reach a valuation of $512.1 billion. By 2027, this number will eclipse $627 billion.

With this immense opportunity upon us, we must look at creative, innovative, and comprehensive solutions to utilize the business of sports to strategically combat economic inequities.

As the 2023 NFL season kicked off this week, over 900 Black players took the field, eight Black general managers in the front office, and four Black head coaches on the sideline. Unfortunately, the owner’s suite still has zero Black majority owners.
While it’s been encouraging to see an increase in Black NFL minority owners with Magic Johnson joining the fold alongside other Black NFL minority owners, Warrick Dunn, Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Lewis Hamilton, Mellody Hobson, and Condoleezza Rice, it’s clear that we have lots of work to do if we want to have a fair share of the pie.

And to be clear, this is not an issue that only plagues the NFL but all major sports leagues in the US. After Michael Jordan’s sale of the Charlotte Hornets earlier this summer, there are 0 Black majority owners across the major sports leagues in the US.