How can investments funds and the glorious uncertainty of sports fit together? This uncertainty is just what comes into play in the search for a stable financial model. The Olympique Lyonnais, which has just made an IPO, has only one goal in mind: “stop relying on the results of sports events,” according to Olivier Blanc, general manager in charge of communications for Olympique Lyonnais. OL Phone, OL Voyages, OL Café, OL Taxis: the brands and derivatives created around Olympique Lyonnais are multiplying. Lying at the heart of this diversification strategy: the stadium. Dubai International Capital and Colony Capital have both been attracted as much by the growth prospects of a wellknown brand as by the potential appreciation of the principal real estate property of an athletic club: its stadium.On a larger scale, other megaprojects are ongoing such as the Dubai Sports City, which will have an 18-hole golf course, the Manchester United football school and four stadiums with capacity for 100,000 spectators. In the middle of this miniature Olympic village will be the The Cube, a luxury condo-hotel in a 27-floor tower. At Las Vegas, Ultimate Sports Entertainment has just announced the launch of an equally gigantic, 4 billion dollar project. This destination in and of its own north of the city will include a casino, sports and leisure facilities. The main room seating 26,000 has been designed to host an NBA team year round. Swimming, shooting and combat sports will also be present... A 5,500-room hotel with 4,000 affordable rooms, 1,000 up market rooms and 500 luxury suites has been planned.This is because the future of clubs is no longer played only out on the field, but increasingly around it. In the future, a sports facility worthy of this title will no longer be limited to the playing field...