Owners Box: Club Member Newsletter - March 1st
Fallout from Russian-Ukraine Invasion, Andretti Submits F1 bid, Silver Lake closes on the All Blacks, another Serie A Club goes to US Investors, Ligue 1 solicits PE help
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Russia-Ukraine Sporting Fallout
FIFA And UEFA Ban Russia And All Russian Clubs From World Soccer - Sports Illustrated - February 28th, 2022
IIHF suspends Russia and Belarus from international play amid Ukraine invasion - Sportsnet - February 28th, 2022
Roman Abramovich sensationally gives up control of Chelsea in shock statement after Russian invasion of Ukraine - The Sun - February 26th, 2022
Poland, Sweden refuse to play World Cup qualifier with Russia - Aljazeera - February 26th, 2022
Investors, including some from the US, 'are drawing up takeover offers to buy the £1.5BILLION-valued Blues' - Daily Mail - February 25th, 2022
IOC EB urges all International Federations to relocate or cancel their sports events currently planned in Russia or Belarus - Olympics.com - February 25th, 2022
F1 won’t race in Russia this year after Ukraine invasion - Toronto Star - February 25th, 2022
Champions League Final Will Be Played in Paris, Not Russia - New York Times - February 25th, 2022
Other Highlights:
Derek Jeter steps down as Miami Marlins CEO, sells stake in the team
Dyal NBA Fund Discloses $200 Million in Assets, Unchanged From September
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Recent Sports M&A News and Developments
Derek Jeter steps down as Miami Marlins CEO, sells stake in the team - CNBC - February 28th, 2022
Derek Jeter is stepping down as chief executive of the Miami Marlins and selling his stake in the Major League Baseball franchise, the Hall of Famer announced Monday.
In a statement announcing the move, Jeter, 47, said the “vision for the future of the franchise is different than the one I signed up to lead,” when he took over the Marlins.
Jeter, a New York Yankees icon, had a 4% stake in the team and took over its top C-suite role in 2017. The Marlins finished in fourth place in the National League East division last year. The team made the postseason once during Jeter’s tenure, a wild card spot in 2020.
Ligue 1 Taking Private Equity Bids for Media Stake - Front Office Sports - February 28th, 2022
Ligue 1 is set to become the next major league to sell a stake to private equity.
France’s top soccer league is taking bids for shares in a new entity that would hold its media rights business.
The league is looking to raise $1.7 billion through the investment and reportedly asking bidders how large a stake they seek for that amount, rather than how much they would like to invest price-wise.
A DAO Is Raising $4 Billion USD to Buy the Denver Broncos - HypeBeast - February 22nd, 202
NFL team Denver Broncos is officially up for sale and a group of crypocurrency enthusiasts are planning on putting their hat in the ring.
A decentralized autonomous organization, more commonly known as a DAO is raising the $4 billion USD in capital needed to acquire the Broncos. One of the major players spearheading the efforts is Sean O’Brien, who previously spent a decade in Cisco’s legal department. He said, “We know it sounds a bit crazy, but it’s also a bit badass. The purpose essentially is to establish an infrastructure so that fans from all walks of life can be owners of the Denver Broncos.”
Boston Celtics Co-Owner Buys 55% Stake in Serie A Club - Front Office Sports - February 22nd, 2022
A group of investors led by Boston Celtics co-owner Stephen Pagliuca have agreed to acquire a 55% stake in Serie A’s Atalanta B.C., valuing the Italian soccer club at $566 million.
The group will acquire the stake from Atalanta’s largest shareholder, the Percassi family, which owns roughly 86% of the club through its holding company, La Dea.
Atalanta joins Inter Milan, Genoa, AC Milan, Fiorentina, Spezia, AS Roma, and Venezia as Serie A clubs under American ownership, with three of the investments made in the past year.
Andretti submits application to form new F1 team - MotorSport Week - February 18th, 2022
Michael Andretti has submitted an application to the FIA to form a new team on the Formula 1 grid, according to his father Mario.
Andretti was deep in talks with Sauber last year to take over the Alfa Romeo Formula 1 team. However, the deal never came to fruition, with Andretti stating that last minute issues regarding control of the organisation forced him to walk away.
It is believed that had he completed the buyout, IndyCar’s Colton Herta would’ve formed one half of the team’s driver line-up.
Despite failing with his Sauber bid, Andretti asserted that he wouldn’t give up in his quest to bring his operation to F1. It now appears that Andretti has set his sights on forming a new team for 2024, rather than taking over an existing outfit.
“Michael has applied to the FIA to field a new F1 team starting in 2024,” Mario wrote on social media. “His entry, Andretti Global, has the resources and checks every box. He is awaiting the FIA’s determination.”
Dyal NBA Fund Discloses $200 Million in Assets, Unchanged From September - yahoo!sports - February 17th, 2022
Dyal Homecourt, the first fund established to invest in NBA franchises, has about $200 million in assets under management, according to a disclosure today.
The assets, which are current as of Dec. 31, are at the same level as of Sept. 30 and little changed from $155 million as of June 30 last year. Dyal had been approved in 2019 as the first fund to be allowed to purchase limited partner stakes in NBA teams. Under its deal, Dyal doesn’t have a limit on the number of teams it can own stakes in, unlike other funds. To date, Dyal has purchased a part of the Sacramento Kings, less than 5% of the Phoenix Suns and a stake in the Atlanta Hawks. It, like other fund investors, can’t own more than 30% in any franchise. Under its deal with the league, it splits a portion of future profits from the investments with the NBA.
Silver Lake Buying Up to 8.6% of New Zealand All Blacks - yahoo!sports - February 16th, 2022
Silver Lake has reached a deal to invest up to $200 million into New Zealand Rugby, which runs the internationally famous All Blacks team as well as domestic leagues. The private equity firm will own up to 8.6% of a new entity that will house all the New Zealand Rugby assets, according to a release from the parties Wednesday afternoon.
The deal comes in two parts. First, Silver Lake invests $134 million (NZD$200) up front into the new business housing New Zealand rugby’s revenue-generating properties at a valuation of $2.4 billion. The cash infusion buys Silver Lake a perpetual convertible note, which can be turned into equity by Silver Lake in three years’ time. Later on this year, Silver Lake will underwrite an offering for New Zealand-based institutional investors of $42 million to $67 million, with the California-based investment firm potentially buying the entire offering depending on domestic investor demand.
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