Owners Box: Club Member Newsletter - July 5th
Barcelona & Sixth Street tie up, Michael Rubin sells 76ers & Devils, Bill Haslam to buy NHL Predators, Palermo & Angers near takeover, W Series prepares for Sports DAO
Owners Box is FanClub Sports’ newsletter and investment community. Every other week we breakdown the recent news in sports investment, M&A, and technology
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News & Highlights:
City Football Group completes ‘UK£11.2m’ Palermo takeover
CortDAO W Series team seek to raise UK£1m from NFT initiative
Utah Royals Likely Crowned As One of Two NWSL Expansion Teams
Barcelona and Sixth Street sign off €207.5m deal for cut of LaLiga rights revenue
Fanatics Billionaire Michael Rubin Selling 76ers, Devils Stakes
Report: Former Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam to Buy Predators over Several Years
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Recent Sports M&A News and Developments
City Football Group completes ‘UK£11.2m’ Palermo takeover - Sports Pro Media - July 5th, 2022
City Football Group (CFG), the owner of English soccer champions Manchester City, has acquired a majority stake in Italian second-tier club Palermo.
The Daily Mail reports that CFG has paid UK£11.2 million (US$13.6 million) for its 80 per cent shareholding in the club, which was promoted to Serie B last season. Dario Mirri will remain as Palermo’s president and chairman. Mirri is a co-owner of the club’s previous majority shareholder Hera Hora srl, which retains a 20 per cent stake.
Palermo now become the 11th club in CFG’s portfolio, which includes Major League Soccer’s (MLS) New York City FC, the A-League’s Melbourne City and newly promoted Spanish top-tier side Girona, in addition to Manchester City.
CortDAO W Series team seek to raise UK£1m from NFT initiative - Sports Pro Media - July 4th, 2022
The CortDAO W Series motorsport team has launched 10,000 non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to secure additional investment.
Created by Team Quantum Punks, the NFTs will be 3D recreations of the helmets worn by CortDAO drivers Marta GarcÃa and Fabienne Wohlwend. There will be 5,000 NFTs available of each design, with a unique identifier from one to 5,000 attributed.
CortDAO said the launch forms part of new ways to involve the Web 3.0 community in its crowdfunding ventures, as well as engage with corporate sponsors. A third of the proceeds from the NFT initiative will go towards sponsorship of the team, with the remaining amount being invested in the all-female single seater W Series. CortDAO is looking to raise UK£1 million (US$1.2 million) in the initial NFT release.
Utah Royals Likely Crowned As One of Two NWSL Expansion Teams - Front Office Sports - July 1st, 2022
The National Women’s Soccer League will expand to 14 teams, likely by 2024, according to commissioner Jessica Berman.
The start date hasn’t been confirmed by the league, which is finalizing a contract with an investment bank to handle the expansion process.
One of the two expansion teams is expected to be the Utah Royals FC, who moved to Kansas City at the end of 2020 to become the Kansas City Current.
Barcelona and Sixth Street sign off €207.5m deal for cut of LaLiga rights revenue - Sports Pro Media - July 1st, 2022
Barcelona have confirmed an agreement with Sixth Street Partners, which will see the US investment firm pay an initial €207.5 million (US$217.06 million) in return for ten per cent of the Spanish soccer giants’ LaLiga broadcast rights revenue for the next 25 years.
According to the club, the deal was ‘heavily’ backed by members at a recent extraordinary general assembly on 16th June and means Barca have generated a total capital gain of €267 million (US$279.3 million) for the current season.
Ligue 1 Club Angers Set to Be Sold for $84MÂ -Â Front Office Sports -Â June 27th, 2022
As owner of Ligue 1 club Angers, Saïd Chabane could acquire players and then transfer them at a much higher price. Now he’s doing that with the entire club.
Chabane is reportedly set to sell the team for $84 million. He initially bought the team in 2011 for $1.8 million.
The buyer is believed to be an American investment fund.
One source told Forbes that Germania Financial Services will purchase the club, but the report has not been substantiated.
When Chabane purchased the club, it was in France’s second-division Ligue 2. It was promoted in 2015 and has remained in Ligue 1 since.Â
Fanatics Billionaire Michael Rubin Selling 76ers, Devils Stakes - yahoo!sports - June 22nd, 2022
Billionaire Michael Rubin is selling his nearly 10% stake of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, the parent company of the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils.
The Fanatics CEO, who increased his stake in the company in 2020, is currently the third-largest shareholder behind Josh Harris and David Blitzer. The deal is expected to close in the coming weeks.
Report: Former Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam to Buy Predators over Several Years - Bleacher Report - June 17th, 2022
Bill Haslam, who served as Tennessee's governor from 2011-19, will purchase the Nashville Predators in a gradual process.
Per ESPN's Greg Wyshynski, Haslam will become the Predators' new owner "over a period of years" as he purchases shares of the franchise from the ownership group led by Herbert Fritch.
Scott Soshnick, Kurt Badenhausen and Eben Novy-Williams of Sportico reported Thursday that Haslam was nearing a deal to purchase the franchise.
The report noted that the Predators are valued at $680 million, which ranks 26th out of 32 NHL teams.
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