Hearing that the PGAT may opt to cede its "non-profit" status, I am guessing that a large part of the game's future will have private equity capital behind it.
Not sure if one or two PE giants will step in with a large foot print and commensurate financial commitment, or if these smaller events will see a combo of corporate and PE capital taking over.
Sports/Media is indeed a ripe "vertical" in PE's universe and has yet not included golf events.
I believe the Taylor Made deal was one of the mid-market "Deals of the Year" when KPS Partners sold it for a 7-8x Cash on cash return. Sure, that's equipment, but it may give investors optimism as the game is on a noticable growth curve coming out of COVID.
Ian
What would these investors be buying and what would the PGA Tour be selling ? When I was younger there used to be a saying which was no show without Punch. In other words without any players there is nothing to watch. That is what LIV have realised and the PGA Tour seems to have belatedly discovered given their eagerness to change their status in an attempt to presumably get the players under some sort of contract.
It will be interesting to see whether they are too late or indeed whether the investors you talk about don't simply look to deal with the players direct similar to LIV have done.
Niall
Too much brian damage to address your questions and I am simply not well-versed in the space.
However, these guys are:
https://pitchbook.com/news/articles/sports-entertainment-deals-us-private-equity-2021Private equity investments in the sports, media and entertainment industries caught fire in 2021 as firms looked to add sports franchise stakes, music catalogs and Hollywood-backed companies to their portfolios.[/size]As highlighted in our latest
[size=inherit]US PE Breakdown[/size][/url][/color], multiple firms focused on scoring minority stakes in sports teams last year as franchises' valuations soared.Dallas-based
Arctos Sports Partners, which announced it had closed the largest-ever first-time US PE fund in October 2021 at $3 billion, secured minority stakes in multiple NBA teams. Those included a roughly 5% stake in the
Golden State Warriors for around $275 million and a 17% stake in the
Sacramento Kings at a $1.8 billion valuation.Beyond the NBA, Arctos has deployed significant capital across at least 12 other investments, including the purchase of a stake in the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning.
Dyal Capital Partners went on an NBA tear of its own, acquiring a nearly 5% stake in the
Phoenix Suns at a $1.55 billion valuation and a nearly 5% stake in the Kings. In June 2021,
Sixth Street Partners acquired a 30% stake in the
San Antonio Spurs alongside
Michael Dell, with Sixth Street owning 20% and Dell the remaining 10%.Sports investing has also cemented itself as a global trend. Luxembourg-based
CVC Capital Partners purchased an expansion cricket franchise in the
Indian Premier League for $736 million in October, and injected $3.2 billion into Spain's La Liga soccer league.
Private equity firms were also in search of thriving media companies in 2021. In August,
Next Generation Media Co.—
Blackstone's newly formed media business—announced a $900 million buyout of
Hello Sunshine, the production company founded by Reese Witherspoon.Next Generation followed up that deal with a pact to buy
Moonbug Entertainment, a children's entertainment company. That deal could reportedly value the business at $3 billion or more.
Apollo Global Management closed a $5 billion deal for Yahoo's New York news division in September.
Thomas H. Lee Partners acquired
BazaarVoice—a provider of outsourced technology, community management, analytics and syndication services—for $1.75 billion in March.Music catalog deals continued to be a hot ticket item. Since late 2020,
Universal Music Group paid nearly $400 million for Bob Dylan's song catalog, and
Sony Music Group, with some financing from
Eldridge Industries, bought Bruce Springsteen's masters for $500 million in the largest deal to date.
Shamrock Capital paid $300 million for the master recordings of Taylor Swift's first six albums.In March,
KKR and
BMG announced a partnership to acquire music rights. In December, the investing duo acquired the music catalog of American rock band ZZ Top, in a deal that included the band's publishing catalog and their income from recorded royalties and performance royalties. This month, KKR and BMG also acquired the music catalog of singer-songwriter John Legend.
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