FC Dallas goalie Maarten Paes is still in his prime, but he’s already looking to parlay his playing career into long-term business success through a diverse investment portfolio that spans real estate, technology companies, beverage brands, and pro sports teams.
Paes, 27, first began investing when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, as the uncertainty of sports pushed him to think about his future. He asked himself, “What do I have if football falls away?”
“The answer was almost nothing,” he tells Front Office Sports.
He immersed himself in educational studies, books, and podcasts about the world of business—he points to the episode of Maverick Carter’s Kneading Dough podcast with LeBron James as something that particularly inspired him.
“I started in real estate, and after that base was set, diversified into venture capital and private equity,” he says.
Today, the MLS goalkeeper’s portfolio includes Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s indoor golf league TGL (he’s invested through a fund from Apex Capital), racket-sports-focused social club operator Ballers, beverage brand Spindrift, AI-powered sports media platform ScorePlay, and, most recently, Pro Padel League team the New York Atlantics.
Paes—who has a little more than $1.55 million in career earnings through playing contracts, according to Capology—recently spoke with FOS about his entry into the investment world, how he approaches diversification, and more.
Front Office Sports: Once you decided to begin investing, how did you start?
Maarten Paes: I needed a place to live and was looking at renting a super expensive apartment in Amsterdam. My financial adviser said, “Wait, why don’t you buy something?” I wasn’t sure what I could afford, but we found a house I could build from scratch in the city of Utrecht. That became my project during COVID. I learned to hustle and did most of the work for that house myself. Afterwards, I learned how to build teams for stuff that I don’t want to do.
When it was done, the house was worth much more. I leveraged that into a second property, which I also renovated, and at that point my plan was to use the same formula over and over.
But interest rates started to rise, and housing prices in Holland were very high. I was able to have passive income through renting properties and started looking at venture capital and private equity.
FOS: VC and PE investments are very different from real estate. Tell me about your entry into those worlds.
MP: I met one group, Apex Capital out of Portugal, and they helped me a lot. And because I invested in a fund first, it helped me to spread out risk. I had made some investments on my own at the beginning, but those probably weren’t the best investments. That was really my “learning money.” Over time, I built a team that could source deals with me and help with due diligence. Now, a few times a month, we meet to review new opportunities and figure out how to add value to my existing investments.
FOS: In addition to Apex, you’ve worked with Patricof Co. in the U.S. Both are firms that bring together athletes for investing. How did you get involved, and what is unique about those platforms?
MP: It’s a very small world, the athletes that are into this. With Apex, it’s basically a group of elite athletes from across Europe who acknowledge that, individually, we may not be LeBron James, but if we combine forces, we can have the same success with companies. It’s the same thing with Patricof. They do the due diligence, find a good deal, and source athletes who are willing to use their platform. For athletes like me, who have five to ten years left in their playing careers to earn money, it’s a great way to grow your brand and portfolio.
FOS: What’s your overall goal with investing? Is it just about return on investment, or something else?
MP: It’s a mix. First, I want to diversify as much as possible. But I also look for investments that connect with my life and playing career. I want to build a flywheel of different investments that almost use each other. For example, I’m a huge fan of the sport padel, which is why I did Ballers. Now, I’m also in the New York Atlantics.
FOS: How hands on are you? And how do you balance the work you do with your investment portfolio, your playing career, and your general work-life balance?
MP: As professional athletes, we have a lot of free time. A lot of guys use that time for things like gaming, but I found something I really like in the form of business. Most of the time, when I’m hands on, it’ll be as far away from game day as possible.
I’m starting to learn to be less hands on, building and trusting my team. Right now, it’s going in the right direction. I certainly want to be hands on as much as I can, especially when I can add value, go to events, etcetera.
But I also want to keep the main thing the main thing, and that’s football. I know that if I play good on the pitch, that’s going to elevate every single business of mine.
