I was in New York City this week for SBJ's "Dealmakers" conference listening to a panel of sports-anchored mixed-use developers, and someone dropped a question that honestly stopped the room:

"Who actually wants to live around a stadium?"

Not in a positive or negative way—just a real question. And it stuck with me enough that I went down the rabbit hole afterwards to see what the data actually says.

Is residential around stadiums actually desirable? Or are we building density because the zoning allows it, not because the demand supports it?

Turns out, the answer is more interesting than I expected.

What the data shows:

The demand is real—and values go up:

It's not uniform—but overall, adjacency tends to increase desirability when the area is master-planned well.

This was the real unlock. There's no single "type," but the segmentation is consistent:

Upper-Income Residents

Middle-Income Residents

Lower-Income Residents

So the answer to "who wants to live near a stadium" is basically: People with money, people who like convenience, and people who want to be in the center of the action—with very few people living right up against the venue unless there's a policy reason to keep affordability in the mix.

The nuance—and this is where developers really lean in:

College campuses are the new frontier:

Athlete capital is consolidating:

Liga MX is heating up:

Italy is wide open:

Stadiums don't automatically create value. Stadium districts do.

People want:

A stadium is the anchor, but the district is the product.

And the people who want to live there are the same people who want to live in any high-amenity, mixed-use urban environment—young professionals, high-earning creatives, dual-income couples, empty nesters, and investors.

The question wasn't really about stadiums—it was about placemaking.

The only people who don't want to live there? Folks who want quiet, predictability, and low traffic—and there's nothing wrong with that. But for everyone else, the data is clear: when you get the district right, residential adjacency isn't just viable—it's premium.

The developers who understand this aren't asking whether people want to live near stadiums. They're asking how to build districts so compelling that the stadium becomes just one amenity among many.

— Kyle

Change in sports rarely feels dramatic in the moment. It arrives gradually—through small experiments, distribution pivots, scheduling tweaks, and audience behavior that looks insignificant until the numbers compound. 

But every so often, a week’s headlines line up in a way that reveals what’s actually happening beneath the surface.

This week, three stories—MLS’s shift with Apple, the NWSL’s rising commercial power, and the NFL’s expanding global footprint—show a single truth:

Sports are no longer national products. They are becoming global, bundled, year-round ecosystems.

When MLS and Apple announced that beginning in 2026, every league match would be included with a standard Apple TV+ subscription, it sounded like a streaming update. But it’s actually an example of a deeper principle:

Consumers take the easiest route, and the companies that win are the ones that remove friction, not add features.

The first few years of MLS Season Pass were a controlled test. Fans were asked to pay separately for one sport inside a world where entertainment is bundled everywhere else. Some did. Many didn’t. But when Apple simulcast more than 200 matches on both the standalone service and Apple TV+ this past season, the numbers were unmistakable: people watched what was easiest to access.

A few forces made this shift inevitable:

• The 2026 World Cup is coming to the U.S., injecting soccer into the cultural bloodstream.

• MLS is aligning its calendar with Europe in 2027, putting it on the global soccer clock.

• Apple is building a sports portfolio—Formula 1, Friday Night Baseball, MLS—that behaves more like infrastructure than premium add-on.

In hindsight, the move makes perfect sense.

The bundle always wins.

It won in cable.

It’s winning in streaming.

And it will win in sports.

MLS isn’t just chasing viewership. It’s positioning itself to be the easiest soccer league to watch in North America at the exact moment the sport reaches peak attention.

Washington Spirit and Gotham FC will meet in the NWSL Championship on November 22, a rematch between the league’s last two champions. But the real story isn’t the matchup—it’s the moment.

Women’s soccer in the U.S. has entered the rarest stage of growth:

the point where success stops surprising people.

Not long ago, the league depended on optimism, patience, and subsidies. Today:

• Attendance records are routine across multiple markets.

• Viewership has climbed from 205,000 to more than 1.2 million per game.

• A $2.2 billion media rights deal begins in 2026—more than 10x the prior agreement.

• Expansion teams are paying hundreds of millions to join a league once valued in the tens.

The transformation is not a story of overnight success. It’s compounding—small wins layered over years until they produce momentum that looks unstoppable. The Spirit’s return to the final, Gotham’s improbable playoff run, and the primetime slot on CBS are the surface-level moments.

The deeper shift is that people now expect the NWSL to deliver meaningful games, packed stadiums, and breakout stars. That’s the moment when leagues stop being “projects” and become permanent parts of the sports landscape.

This final isn’t just a championship—it’s a milestone in a league graduating from potential to permanence.

This week on the Momentous Sports podcast, we sat down with Marc Spiegel, entrepreneur, former Rubicon Global co-founder, and now the first majority U.S. owner in Liga MX after acquiring Querétaro FC (QFC) in a nine-figure deal.

Marc explains how he evaluated 200+ clubs across the globe, why Mexico emerged as the most compelling opportunity, and how he’s rebuilding a 75-year-old legacy club with modern operating discipline.

What We Cover

Why This Matters to Momentous

Key Idea:
Global football is professionalizing fast, and disciplined operators will define the next decade of growth.

Marc’s blueprint at QFC shows exactly what that transformation looks like.

Check out our latest podcast!

In our recent episode, host Kyle Israel sits down with Marc Spiegel, Atlanta-based entrepreneur, former Rubicon Global co-founder, and now the first majority U.S. owner in Liga MX following his acquisition of Querétaro FC (QFC) in a nine-figure deal.

This conversation is a masterclass in global football investing, league dynamics, and the future of sports as an institutional asset class.

The NFL’s first-ever game in Spain capped a seven-market international schedule across four continents—Brazil, Ireland, Germany, England, and now Madrid. Nearly 80,000 fans filled the Bernabéu, and the city saw more than €21 million in local economic activity.

To understand why the league is expanding this aggressively, you only need to accept one idea:

All growth is eventually geographic. Once a league maximizes domestic revenue—media rights, stadium economics, sponsorship—it has two levers left:

create new products or create new markets.

The NFL’s product is already optimized. So it is choosing geography.

In 2026:

• Melbourne, Australia will host its first NFL game.

• Rio de Janeiro will host its first as well.

• London and Madrid are becoming annual fixtures.

• The league may schedule up to ten international games—its most ever.

This isn’t experimentation.

It’s expansion strategy.

Teams like Miami, Chicago, and Kansas City now hold long-term activation rights in Spain—essentially territorial planting for future fan bases. The NFL is learning from global soccer: cultural loyalty is strongest where presence is consistent, not occasional.

The question is no longer if the NFL will become a global league.

It’s how quickly it can scale a domestic sport into an international habit.

Signals worth noting because they hint at where the broader world of sports is quietly moving:

• DICK’S Sporting Goods launched a youth-sports makeover series on Nickelodeon—a reminder that retailers and content studios are merging in ways that blur the line between commerce and storytelling.

• Hudl acquired New Zealand’s Athletic Data Innovations, another step in the consolidation of sports technology around full-stack performance ecosystems.

• SportsPro Media Summit convened leaders in Madrid, signaling that the next frontier of sports isn’t rights fees—it’s digital engagement, global distribution, and year-round monetization.

If there’s a theme to this week, it’s that sports are outgrowing the boxes they were born in:

• Leagues once tied to local markets are becoming global businesses.

• Distribution once built on subscriptions is shifting back toward simplicity.

• Properties once fighting for survival are becoming commercial engines.

Change in sports rarely announces itself.

It accumulates—quietly, steadily—until one day the shift is obvious.

This week was one of those moments.

Don’t miss out on the most recent episode on Driving with Marley!

This newsletter is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. All financial data presented represents historical performance of specific venues and should not be construed as indicative of future results. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investment in sports venues and related assets involves significant risk, including potential loss of principal. The behavioral economics concepts discussed are based on academic research and historical case studies that may not apply to all situations or guarantee similar outcomes. No representation is made that any investment approach discussed herein will or is likely to achieve results similar to those shown. Any investment decision should be made only after careful consideration of all relevant factors and consultation with qualified financial, tax, and legal advisors. Momentous Sports and Magnolia Hill Partners make no representations or warranties regarding the accuracy or completeness of this information and disclaim any liability arising from your use of this information. This material has not been prepared in accordance with requirements designed to ensure unbiased reporting, and there are no restrictions on trading in the securities discussed herein prior to publication. For qualified accredited investors interested in learning more about our educational materials and investment approach, please contact us directly for a confidential discussion.