Family offices bet on sports, from pickleball leagues to smart soccer balls

Key points

• Ben Johns comes over to the right side to hit a dink shot against Anna Bright and Hayden Patriquine in the 2026 PPA Carvana Mesa Cup finals match of the Pro Mixed Doubles Division at Arizona Athletic Grounds on February 22, 2026 in Mesa, Arizona.
• A version of this article first appeared in CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer.
• Last month, investment firms of the ultra wealthy went all-in on sports and played on multiple fronts.
• At the beginning of May, billionaire Tom Dundon's namesake family office partnered with Apollo's new sports fund to invest $225 million in Pickleball Inc., the parent company of Major League Pickleball and the PPA Tour.
• Dundon is already an owner of the Portland Trail Blazers NBA team and the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes.