[Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly states the owner of the New York Liberty. It has since been edited.]
If you’re a big sports fan like I am, you’ve undoubtedly missed watching the NCAA basketball tournament, the NBA and NHL playoffs, and Major League Baseball.
We’d miss them anytime, but the void was especially big as we stayed home because of COVID-19 and could really have used the enjoyment and distraction that sports bring.
At the moment, the four major North American sports leagues have laid out plans to return to action under modified conditions to ensure the safety of the players and fans.
This is great news for sports fans, and it’s great news for investors, too …
The biggest challenge for the leagues, of course, is preventing the spread of COVID-19.
Fans will not attend the games, which could be kind of weird, but we’ll get used to it.
The players themselves will have limited exposure to people and the world outside of their teams and games.
And most leagues are talking about hub cities to limit travel and better control possible exposure to the virus.
The NBA is doing something a little different … it’s turning to wearables technology to spot the virus before symptoms appear.
Wearables will be a huge part of healthcare’s future, thanks to the fast and reliable wireless data transmission enabled by 5G. I already wear my Apple Watch all the time to track my sleep, heartbeat, exercise, and more. The Series 4 version of the watch is FDA approved as a Class II medical device that can take an electrocardiogram (ECG) in 30 seconds. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) says it can also detect falls and irregular heartbeats.
If you haven’t heard me say it before, I’ll say it again: I believe Apple will become first and foremost a healthcare company in the Roaring 2020s, primarily because of the coming growth in wearables.
And it’s not just Apple. Google’s parent company Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shelled out $2.1 billion for Fitbit last November.
The NBA is giving its players the opportunity to wear a smart ring called Oura, which the league tweeted “is capable of predicting COVID-19 symptoms up to 3 days in advance with 90% accuracy.”
The Oura ring is a health tracker that measures temperature, heart rate, breathing rate, sleep patterns, etc. It wasn’t invented to spot COVID-19, but a study showed that monitoring the health data from the ring can warn of coronavirus symptoms three days in advance … and at a surprisingly strong 95% success rate.
The NBA has purchased more than 2,000 Oura rings. They cost about $300, so even a little cheaper than the Apple watch. I’m seriously thinking of getting one myself.
According to Grand View Research, the global wearable medical device market was worth $13 billion last year, and it’s expected to grow at a compound annual rate of nearly 28% over the next seven years. It should eventually lead to doctors being able to monitor patients remotely, thanks again to the speed and reliability of 5G data transmission.
I plan to take advantage of every new development along the way, as both a patient and an investor.
A Direct Play on the Return of Sports
The return of sports also highlights a stock I see as a strong buy right now that allows you to be a part owner of a couple of major teams: the New York Knicks and the New York Rangers.
As a Philly guy, I’m not a fan of either team personally. But I am a fan of the upside potential in the company that holds an ownership stake in them: Madison Square Garden Sports (NYSE:MSGS).
I expect you’re familiar with Madison Square Garden, known as “the world’s most famous arena.” It is the oldest major sporting facility in the New York metropolitan area and home to the Knicks and Rangers, and it is the world’s second busiest in terms of ticket sales.
The company recently split in two entities, with Madison Square Garden Sports being born out of what was previously the sporting division. In addition to the Knicks and Rangers, it has stakes in one of the largest esports franchises in the world in Counter Logic Gaming, and a pro sports training facility in upstate New York.
According to Forbes, the New York Knicks are worth $4.6 billion, and the New York Rangers are worth $1.6 billion — both valued the highest in their respective leagues. In combination, the two teams are valued at $6.2 billion. Meanwhile, the company is valued at just $3.7 billion.
MSGS is a potential double if the Dolan family (the majority stakeholder) decides to sell either or both teams, something Chairman and CEO James Dolan has said is possible if the right offer came along.
I think it will. So I’m getting in place now.
Matthew McCall left Wall Street to actually help investors — by getting them into the world’s biggest, most revolutionary trends BEFORE anyone else. The power of being “first” gave Matt’s readers the chance to bank +2,438% in Stamps.com (STMP), +1,523% in Ulta Beauty (ULTA) and +1,044% in Tesla (TSLA), just to name a few. Click here to see what Matt has up his sleeve now. Matt does not directly own the aforementioned securities.
