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Drayton Family Office

Drayton Family Office

Capital structuring for sport's commercial real estate.

17 YEARS IN INSTITUTIONAL FINANCE · FOOTBALL & MOTORSPORT · LICENSED REAL ESTATE OPERATIONS, PORTUGAL & UAE

Sports Capital is Drayton Family Office’s institutional capital structuring for the commercial real estate built around football and motorsport. We work with family offices, developers, and institutional partners on training facilities, stadium-adjacent developments, branded residential communities, and destination assets anchored to the sport, applying the same governance and off-market access used across every Drayton Family Office mandate.

Market precedent

Already moving, already structured.

Institutional capital is already being raised, structured, and deployed into football’s commercial real estate — including inside Drayton Family Office’s own home market.

Portugal
€500M
Raised for top-flight stadium redevelopment

For market context: A private equity-style vehicle has raised close to half a billion euros to co-invest in the redevelopment of stadiums owned by three of Portugal’s leading clubs, secured against retail, hospitality, and naming-rights revenue rather than public funding.

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Spain
€200–250M
Sought for top-flight stadium modernisation

For market context: A leading institutional bank is reportedly arranging long-term financing for a major Spanish club’s stadium redevelopment, blending bank loans with capital-market bonds over a multi-decade maturity — mirroring a structure used for a prior top-flight stadium project in the same market.

UAE — direct access
6–9%
Proven yield, sport-anchored real estate

For market context: Dubai Sports City, home to LaLiga Academy Dubai and the Manchester City Football Academy, carries a scarcity premium and reported yields of 6–9%. This is not third-party evidence — Interluxe Capital’s RERA-licensed Dubai operations can transact directly in this freehold market.

Why now

A shift already in motion.

Broadcasting revenue, long the primary engine of football's financial growth, has plateaued across Europe's top leagues. Real estate has emerged as the principal area of growth in its place — evidenced by major facility investment now underway at clubs across Europe's top leagues, including Barcelona's ongoing Camp Nou redevelopment.

Sports Capital applies the same institutional discipline that governs every Drayton Family Office mandate — rigorous governance, off-market access, and established developer relationships — to this category specifically, structuring capital into the commercial real estate now driving football's growth.

What it covers

Four categories. One mandate type.

I.

Training facilities & academies

Capital structuring for the physical infrastructure clubs and federations build to develop talent — land, design, and delivery partners governed under institutional-grade oversight.

II.

Stadium-adjacent developments

Mixed-use commercial real estate built around a club's existing footprint — retail, hospitality, and residential components developed alongside, not instead of, the football itself.

III.

Branded residential communities

Destination developments anchored to football — branded residential communities built around sport, not adjacent to it.

IV.

Destination & legacy assets

Larger-scale commercial real estate for federations and institutional partners building a long-term physical presence in the game.

Scale

Already operating at this level.

£20M–£200M
Training facilities & academies

For market context: Manchester City's own training complex, the City Football Academy, was reported as a £200 million build.

£200M–£1B+
Stadium-adjacent & destination developments

For market context: AC Milan's own new facility was reported at over €1bn, and DarGlobal's development portfolio includes single projects valued at $380M+.

Structural principle

Every mandate is structured directly between the capital and the asset. Sports Capital does not pool, hold, or take discretionary control of client capital under any circumstance — at any scale, on any deal.

How it connects

Two scales. One infrastructure.

AFO™

Individual, residential

One athlete. A first acquisition — growing into a personal property portfolio over the course of a career.

+
Sports Capital

Institutional, commercial

Clubs, federations, and family offices — capital structured into the commercial real estate built around the sport itself.

Founding partners

Developer partners, already at this scale.

DAMAC Properties
Chelsea Residences — Dubai Maritime City

Official Property Development Partner of Chelsea Football Club. Chelsea Residences by DAMAC is the world’s first Chelsea FC-branded residential development — over 1,400 sea-facing apartments, a rooftop football pitch, and elite athlete performance facilities. From AED 2.17M.

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Ohana Development
Manchester City Yas Residences — Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi-based luxury developer behind the Manchester City Yas Residences — over 2,000 residences anchored to the Manchester City Football Academy along Yas Canal. From AED 1.7M. Handover 2029.

Prestige One
AFA Tower — Dubai

Official developer partner of the Argentina Football Association. AFA Tower combines luxury residences with custom football training facilities — the world’s first AFA-branded residential development. Pre-launch.

Get involved

Begin a conversation.

Sports Capital works selectively with clubs, federations, circuits, and institutional family offices structuring commercial real estate around football and motorsport.

Request a private conversation All enquiries handled directly by Tessa Drayton, in absolute confidence.