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Private Equity, Everywhere, All at Once

SC Holdings’ Jason Stein on the private-equity money gusher flooding the sports world, the commercialization of the NCAA, and why he (and LeBron and Draymond and K.D.) are still bullish on pickleball.

Pickleball
"[Pickleball] is one of the only sports where you have men and women competing, all ages competing, and anyone could win. That makes it really fun from a media perspective," says Jason Stein. Photo: Bruce Yeung/Getty Images
John Ourand
May 12, 2026

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Private equity is all over the sports world these days, with leagues allowing firms to take ownership stakes in teams, and the Big 12 becoming the first college conference to cut a deal with a fund. Jason Stein, who has devoted his career to investing in sports, recently told me that this trend was still in its infancy; he expects all sports to eventually become more commercialized and professionalized. Stein, the co-founder and managing partner of SC Holdings, walked me through his investment thesis and offered a smart viewpoint on how such investments will change everything from the NCAA to youth sports to pickleball. He joined the Varsity podcast this week in an episode that posts tomorrow, but you’re getting an early look today.