Business Blog: Game time with Goldman Sachs' sports boss

Goldman Sachs sports boss breaks down the future of private equity investing

August 30, 2024

Happy Friday! This is Michael del Castillo, filling in for Allie.

For sports fans, this week's news was defined by the NFL's historic decision to let private equity firms own up to a 10% stake directly in a team, so long as they hold the assets for at least six years, a story told brilliantly by my colleague Luisa Beltran in yesterday’s edition of Term Sheet.

But the shift in private equity's role in sports investing started years ago, and in many ways is only just beginning.

Stacy Sonnenberg, Goldman Sachs' global head of sports financing, has an ideal window into the PE playbook for sports-related assets. "I finance sports teams, leagues, stadiums and arenas, and sports-adjacent businesses for a living," Sonnenberg told Fortune during a wide-ranging conversation that was part of an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at a new financing model her group created for Spanish soccer club FC Barcelona.

Sonnenberg breaks down private equity interest in sports into two categories: One is the traditional PE approach of investing in “sports across the ecosystem,” as she puts it. The other, is to go narrow and focus investments on individual sports teams.

The specialist approach has emerged as a succession of major leagues, from the NBA to the NHL, have opened the doors to minority team investments by private equity in recent years.

“There’s three firms who are taking a wholly new approach, and that’s Arctos, Dyal Partners, and Dynasty,” she says. In April, Dallas-based Arctos closed a $4.1 billion sports team investment fund (its second); New York-based Dyal Capital reportedly has $500 million committed to investing in NBA teams; and "upstart" Dynasty Capital, also based in New York, was among the giant private equity firms to secure a provisional agreement from the NFL, according to a Sportico report.

In the bucket of the “traditional” private equity approach to sports, Sonnenberg puts Luxembourg-based CVC Capital Partners, San Francisco-based Sixth Street Partners, and Los Angeles-based Ares Management, as well as Santa Monica, California-based Clearlake Capital and Menlo Park-based Silver Lake. Of course, the traditional PE players invest in teams too—CVC, Sixth Street Partners, and Ares all received provisional approval from the NFL to invest in its teams—it’s just that they also invest in other sports related assets.

Private equity’s history in sports goes back to 2005, when Bain Capital attempted to buy the entire National Hockey League for $4 billion. Though the acquisition didn't happen, the offer changed the sporting world's perception that PE was a slash-and-burn business, interested solely in cutting costs and reselling skeletons.

The following year three American firms—Colony Capital, Butler Capital, and Morgan Stanley—made what is believed to be the first PE investment in sports, buying the soccer team Paris Saint-Germain. By last August Michael Jordan was able to sell his majority stake in the Charlotte Hornets for $3 billion, a 991% return in 13 years, according to Financial Advisor Magazine.

The NBA, NHL, Major League Baseball, and Major League Soccer all let teams sell up to a 30% stake to private equity firms, with the NFL allowing up to ten percent. Returns from the NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL combined for 18% compounded returns, according to Financial Advisor. While the average price of an NBA team jumped 1,057%, now averaging about $4 billion.

In September, Sonnenberg's boss, Greg Carey, global co-head of sports, launched a new sports franchise division to form a direct pipeline connecting Goldman's wealthier clients to sports teams opportunities. On the sports teams financing side of Sonnenberg's business, Goldman last year facilitated the $700 million purchase of soccer team AS Roma to private equity firm Friedkin Group.

Perhaps no deal captures private equity's investment in Goldman's sports-adjacent business better than Legends, the stadium concessionaire giant cofounded by the bank in 2008 along with the Yankees and the Cowboys. In 2021 private equity firm Sixth Street bought a majority stake in Legends, which has since gone on to purchase minority stakes in the Professional Fighters League and the American Ultimate Disc League (now known as the Ultimate Frisbee Association).

On the stadium side of things, fast-paced private equity firms have been slower to invest, though Sonnenberg says that's starting to change. To hedge against risk, private equity firms have been buying slow-growth focused insurance companies at historic rates, peaking in 2021. Sonnenberg cites private equity giant Apollo's purchase of Athene as an example of the changing dynamic.

"It's not an attractive investment unless they have a life insurance company that they can invest through," she says. "And we're starting to see more of that.”

In recognition of the Labor Day holiday on Monday, the next Term Sheet will be in your inbox on Tuesday, Sept. 3.

Michael del Castillo
Twitter: @delrayman
Email: michael.delscastillo@fortune.com
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Nina Ajemian curated the deals section of today's newsletter.

VENTURE DEALS

- Codeium, a Mountain View, Calif.-based AI-powered code acceleration platform, raised $150 million in Series C funding. General Catalyst led the round and was joined by existing investors Kleiner Perkins and Greenoaks.

- Bridge, a New York City-based stablecoin payment network, raised $40 million in Series A funding. Sequoia and Ribbit led the round and were joined by Index and Haun Ventures.

- Miris, a Culver City, Calif.-based spatial computing company for streaming, raised $26 million in seed funding. IAG Capital Partners led the round and was joined by others.

- Vybe, a New York City-based AI-generated photos social media app, raised $4.8 million in seed funding. Stellation Capital led the round and was joined by Scribble Ventures, Coalition Operators, Neo, and Blueprint FTC.

- Agency, a San Francisco, Calif.-based AI agent platform, raised $2.6 million in pre-seed funding from 645 Ventures and Afore Capital.

- Turntable Labs, a Miami, Fla.-based social music platforms developer, raised $1.2 million in a seed funding extension. Founders Fund, Elizabeth Street Ventures, 468 Capital, and f7 Ventures led the round and were joined by an angel investor.

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PRIVATE EQUITY

- Alleguard, a portfolio company of Wynnchurch Capital, acquired Harbor Foam, a Grandville, Mich.-based expanded polystyrene manufacturer. Financial terms were not disclosed.

- AS Equity Partners agreed to acquire HOCHDORF Swiss Nutrition, a Zurich, Switzerland-based milk processor, from HOCHDORF Holding. Financial terms were not disclosed.

- Valsoft, backed by Viking Global Investors and Coatue Management, acquired Anju Software, a Phoenix, Ariz.-based life science solutions provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.