Owners Box: Club Member Newsletter - August 15th
The NWSL continues its upward trajectory as valuations rise, Manning joins Sue Bird as a Gotham owner, the Broncos' new ownership is approved, and Barcelona sells a further stake of content studio
Owners Box is FanClub Sports’ newsletter and investment community. Every other week we breakdown the recent news in sports investment, M&A, and technology
Sign-Up & share Owners Box with your friends and colleagues
Learn how Teams, Owners, and Investors can start a Syndicate on FanClub
News & Highlights:
Barcelona confirm €100m ‘fourth lever’ deal with Orpheus Media for 24.5% of Barça Studios
Former Man United Director Prepping ‘Hostile’ Offer for Team
Rob Walton’s $4.65B Purchase of Broncos Approved by NFL Owners
TLDR? Follow our Instagram & Twitter Pages at @fanclubsports & @fanclubsportshq
Don’t have time for a morning newsletter? No worries, FanClub has you covered. FanClub condenses the Owner’s Box Newsletter into a series of short Instagram & Twitter posts so you can catch all the highlights, even if you miss the game.
Join the FanClub Community
Sign-up for the largest community of pro sports owners. Get direct access to deals across European football, major & minor North American leagues, autosport, tennis, rugby, cricket, and emerging leagues from across the world
Recent Sports M&A News and Developments
Barcelona confirm €100m ‘fourth lever’ deal with Orpheus Media for 24.5% of Barça Studios - Sports Pro Media - August 12th, 2022
Barcelona have confirmed a €100 million (US$102.9 million) deal with Orpheus Media, a production company run by Catalan media mogul Jaume Roures, which sees the Spanish soccer giants part with a 24.5 per cent stake in their in-house Barça Studios content hub.
The agreement comes after a similar deal with Socios signed last month, which was for a similar fee and percentage of the company, valuing Barça Studios at €400 million (US$411 million).
NWSL Valuations Soar on Angel City’s $100 Million Wings - Sportico - August 12th, 2022
NWSL valuations have soared over the last several months.
As recently as two years ago, teams paid somewhere between $2 million and $5 million, roughly speaking, to enter the women’s soccer league. This February, the Washington Spirit were valued at $35 million in Michele Kang’s takeover; shortly afterward, Gotham FC raised money at what Sportico first reported as a $40 million valuation from new owners including Kevin Durant, Sue Bird and Eli Manning.
Former Man United Director Prepping ‘Hostile’ Offer for Team - Front Office Sports- August 11th, 2022
Former Manchester United director Michael Knighton is preparing an offer for the Premier League club.
The bid is considered “hostile” because the team isn’t for sale, but the same term applies to Knighton’s feelings for owners the Glazer family, who also own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“We have an inept and quite frankly useless ownership,” Knighton told Man Utd The Religion.
MLBPA warned Endeavor about minor league ownership conflict - The Athletic - August 10th, 2022
The Major League Baseball Players Association on Wednesday objected to the way Endeavor president Mark Shapiro characterized warnings the union gave Endeavor about buying minor league teams.
Endeavor, a sports and entertainment company, on Tuesday announced it was selling 10 minor league teams it owned, and a conflict of interest was central to that sale. The MLBPA’s regulations prohibit player agents from having an ownership interest in teams. Endeavor has a sports agency, WME Sports, whose agents represent major league players and are certified by the MLBPA.
Rob Walton’s $4.65B Purchase of Broncos Approved by NFL Owners - Sportico - August 9th, 2022
Rob Walton was approved unanimously as the next owner of the Denver Broncos today at a special NFL owners meeting in Minneapolis. The sale is expected to close later this month.
The billionaire Walmart heir reached an agreement to pay $4.65 billion for the Broncos in June, the highest price ever for a sports franchise. The previous record price for a sports team was $3.3 billion, set when Joe Tsai bought the Brooklyn Nets and operating rights to the Barclays Center in 2019. It was the first sale of an NFL franchise since 2018, when David Tepper paid a then-NFL record $2.28 billion for the Carolina Panthers.
Giants legend Eli Manning joins Gotham FC ownership group - USA Today - August 8th, 2022
Manning is joining WNBA superstar Sue Bird as part of the ownership group of the NJ/NY Gotham FC, a club in the National Women’s Soccer League.
In addition to Manning and Bird, the ownership group will also consist of Kevin Durant’s investment firm, Thirty Five Ventures, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and wife, Tammy, and former U.S. women’s national soccer team star Carli Lloyd.
XFL Seeking Investors To Own Up To 45% Of The League - XFL News Hub - August 8th, 2022
The XFL has engaged PJT Partners to raise $125 million in equity funding. A focused equity raise with PJT Partners contacting 15 affiliated offices. RedBird Capital is prepared to fund 100% of the equity if needed. Although not specified for this endeavor, RedBird could, in theory, assist investors with capital in exchange for residual interest.
DISCLAIMER
This newsletter is confidential and may not be distributed, transmitted or otherwise communicated to others, in whole or in part, without the express consent of FanClub Sports Capital Inc.
This newsletter does not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, any security, product or service, including interests in the fund.
Stay tuned for the latest FanClub deals and sports updates!