Owners Box: Club Member Newsletter - January 3rd
Suns & Mercury purchased for $4 billion, Fitzgerald and Booker join MLP investors, Forbes breaks down biggest gainers in sports, and two HUGE names plan to enter F1
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News & Highlights:
Suns’ $4B Sale Gives Dyal HomeCourt Early Win in Private Equity Era
Major League Pickleball announces Arizona team roster and owners
NWSL expansion franchise cities narrowed down to San Francisco, Tampa and Boston
Ford Revs Up Plans to Join F1 with Red Bull; Andretti closing in on F1 entrance
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Recent Sports M&A News and Developments
These Sports Teams Scored The Biggest Gains In 2022 -Â Forbes - December 28th, 2022
Among major sports leagues in which Forbes tracks valuations annually, 11 teams increased in value by more than 40% in 2022.
The most dramatic swings have taken place in European soccer, where top teams can just as quickly fall into financial ruin as rise to new heights. Italian club AC Milan had negative equity of $37 million in 2018 when Elliott Management took over, but after it injected hundreds of millions of capital into the club to help it return both to the Champions League and to the top of Serie A last season, Forbes valued the Rossoneri at $1.2 billion in May, up an impressive 115%.
Two Premier League Giants Up for Sale in Uncertain Market - Front Office Sports - December 27th, 2022
Manchester United and Liverpool — or possibly a stake in them — are up for grabs as sports teams around the world manage mounting losses in a market facing profitability concerns, according to a CNBC report.
Suns’ $4B Sale Gives Dyal HomeCourt Early Win in Private Equity Era - Sportico - December 20th, 2022
Mat Ishbia’s $4 billion deal to purchase the Phoenix Suns is welcome news for one of the team’s most recent investors—private equity fund Dyal HomeCourt Partners.
The firm, which is part of asset manager Blue Owl Capital (NYSE: OWL), is one of a handful of funds that has rushed to take advantage of new ownership rules that allow institutional capital to buy passive minority stakes in the NBA, MLB, NHL and MLS.
Major League Pickleball announces Arizona team roster and owners - ABC 15 Arizona - December 20th, 2022
The Arizona club will be called the AZ Drive and is divided into 10 owners.
A handful of those owners include Larry Fitzgerald, Devin Booker, and Dierks Bentley, among seven others.
Group Led by Mat Ishbia Agrees to Acquire Majority Stake in Phoenix Suns and Mercury Basketball Teams -Â Sports Pro Media - December 20th, 2022
Billionaire mortgage lender Mat Ishbia and his brother Justin have agreed to buy the majority stake of the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Phoenix Suns and the Women’s National Basketball Association’s (WNBA) Phoenix Mercury.
The deal to buy more than 50 percent of the two teams will include all of current majority owner Robert Sarver’s interest and a portion of that of minority partners. The transaction values both franchises at US $4 billion, with Mat Ishbia to become the team’s governor, while his brother serves as alternate.
NWSL expansion franchise cities narrowed down to San Francisco, Tampa and Boston -Â Front Office Sports -Â December 19th, 2022
The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) has shortlisted San Francisco, Tampa and Boston as its three potential new expansion franchise locations.
In July the NWSL appointed consultancy firm Inner Circle Sports to advise on the expansion plans and now, according to the report, that has been narrowed down to a final shortlist from the 82 parties that expressed an interest ahead of the 4th November application deadline.
Ford Revs Up Plans to Join F1 with Red Bull; Andretti closing in on F1 entrance - Front Office Sports -Â December 15th, 2022
Porsche’s stalled negotiations to enter Formula 1 with Red Bull have created an opening for a surprise name.
Ford is reportedly exploring a deal with Red Bull to enter the series in 2026. Ford raced in F1 with Jaguar from 2000 to 2004, eventually selling the team to Red Bull.
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