Bluestone’s inaugural fund, capped at $300 million, was oversubscribed. And while the sports investment space tends to be populated by family office and high-net-worth investors, Sharma said that his investors were strictly institutional.

Playing the Game: This week, ex-NBA executive Bobby Sharma launched a new private equity firm, Bluestone Equity Partners, that will invest in sports and media entertainment.

Which got me thinking: As asset owners, how alluring is it to invest with someone who worked for your favorite sports league? If you’re a huge NBA fan, for example, are you more apt to take a meeting with someone like Sharma?

Bluestone’s inaugural fund, capped at $300 million, was oversubscribed. And while the sports investment space tends to be populated by family office and high-net-worth investors, Sharma said that his investors were strictly institutional.

“The sexiness of the investment is always there,” said John Moag, a longtime investment banker and advisor in the sports industry. “At the end of the day, if you’re investing $50 million, $75 million, it damn well better be a good investment. You may be turned on by the idea of going to games and knowing that you own a piece of the action and that you can meet with players, but the investment has to make sense.”

Still, Sharma’s fund may benefit from both intrigue and experience. He was mentored by Ted Forstmann, the late IMG CEO, and co-founded his firm with Kyle Charters, who joins from Inner Circle Sports.

“There are lot of larger firms that are learning the sports industry through their investments,” Sharma said. “There are some sports executives that are learning private equity through their fundraising. What we bring to the table is a combination of the two.”