🔊 Inside KKR's Billion Dollar Sports Acquisition

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This week $KKR ( ▲ 0.76% ), a publicly-traded private equity giant announced it is acquiring Arctos Partners LP in a deal valued at roughly $1 billion, according to Bloomberg.

The transaction includes performance-based incentives that could push the valuation closer to $1.5 billion.

Arctos co-founder Ian Charles will remain in charge of the business, and senior leadership will receive equity as part of the deal.

The acquisition is still subject to approval from the major US professional sports leagues.

Why This Matters?

This news, though major, isn’t surprising.

KKR, which manages more than $700 billion in assets, has been signaling for years that it wants deeper exposure to sports.

Buying Arctos is one of the most efficient ways to do it.

When Arctos launched in 2019, its core thesis was simple but somewhat contrarian at the time: sports teams aren’t just passion assets, they’re durable, institutional-quality investments.

And the logic was straightforward:

In just a few years, Arctos proved that thesis, and then some.

Today, the firm manages roughly $15 billion across minority stakes in teams, sports-adjacent companies, and secondaries.

Here’s a rundown of their portfolio:

New Jersey Devils (via Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment), Golden State Warriors, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Sacramento Kings, Real Salt Lake, Utah Jazz, Pittsburgh Penguins, Boston Red Sox, Buffalo Bills, San Francisco Giants, Minnesota Wild, San Diego Padres, Aston Martin Racing, Paris Saint-Germain, Atalanta BC, Liverpool Football Club (via Fenway Sports Group), Los Angeles Chargers, Prospector Baseball Group, GeoComply, Elevate, SeatGeek.

More importantly, Arctos is the only institutional platform approved to invest across all five major North American leagues, European football, and motorsport.

That’s the real value here.

KKR isn’t just buying another investment firm.

They’re buying:

Not to mention it also gives KKR access to a dedicated secondaries business, which Arctos has, and would immediately make it a major player in that sector, as well.

In 7 years, Arctos has become the most diversified sports investment platform in the world.

And with this acquisition, KKR entrenches itself as one of the most dominant (if not the most) players in the entire ecosystem.

That said, this deal isn’t without challenges:

Still, on paper, this is a power move.

And one hell of a way to start 2026.

• Bruin Capital Raises $1B. Bruin Capital, a sports-focused investment firm founded by George Pyne, has just raised a new $1 billion fund for its fourth investment vehicle, according to the Financial Times. Investors in this fund include TJC, 26North, and other undisclosed investors. The firm has now raised over $2 billion in total since launching in 2015. They will reportedly remain focused on investing in third-party service providers in the sports and media sectors (more here).

• Betlabs Raises Seed Round. Betlabs, a sports betting technology company, has raised a Seed round from SportsContentCo, a specialized supplier to the licensed American sports betting industry. SportsContentCo will provide the company with access to sports betting operators across the US. The investment will also support Betlabs expansion as the company scales distribution of Dynamic Parlays, its flagship product designed to modernize traditional parlay wagering. Financial details were not disclosed (more here).

• FitXpert Raises Seven-Figure Investment. FitXpert, an Egypt-based end-to-end software platform for fitness trainers, nutrition centres, and clinics, has raised a seven-figure Seed round from Foras Investment. The investment will be used to enhance FitXpert’s technology stack, strengthen operations, and accelerate regional expansion, as the company aims to become a core operating platform for fitness and nutrition businesses across the Arab world. Financial details were not disclosed (more here).

• Global Acquires Majority Stake In The Overlap. Global, a leading UK-based media company, has bought a majority stake in The Overlap, the sports media business founded by former Manchester United defender Gary Neville. The Overlap, launched in 2021, produces content covering soccer, rugby, and cricket. It has over 38 million monthly views on YouTube to date. Last year, it achieved 2.2 billion views across all platforms. Financial details were not disclosed (more here).

• LGPA & TMRW Sports Announce Partnership. The LPGA and TMRW Sports have announced a partnership and the formation of WTGL, a new platform for team golf featuring the world’s best women golfers. The new league is set to launch in winter 2026-27. WTGL will feature teams of LPGA Tour stars competing across a season of fast-paced, team match play from the custom-built SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida (more here).

• LOVB & Chase Announce Partnership. Chase and League One Volleyball (LOVB) have formed a partnership, which sees Chase become a 'Founding Partner' of the emerging women’s volleyball league. The partnership also centers around Chase Money Skills, a financial education program that will help teach LOVB athletes at the youth and professional levels. This also extends and supports the LOVB club and pro coaches (more here).

• Zurich & Players Health Announce Partnership. Zurich North America, a commercial insurance company, and Players Health, a provider of risk management services and insurance products to sports organizations, have formed a partnership. The companies are introducing “a first-of-its-kind” Critical Injury Protection Insurance solution for colleges, universities, collectives, and their student athletes who receive NIL payments. The new insurance protects these institutions’ financial investments in top student-athletes in the event the athlete suffers a season-disrupting injury (more here).

• Mercedes-Benz & WSL Announce Partnership. Mercedes-Benz has struck a new commercial partnership with England’s top two women’s soccer divisions. The multi-year agreement is with WSL Football, the organizer of the top-tier Women’s Super League and second-tier WSL 2, and sees Mercedes-Benz named the new official automotive partner for both leagues. As part of the deal, Mercedes-Benz also becomes the presenting partner of the first-ever play-off match between the two leagues (more here).

• Consello Partners With Golf Champion Shane Lowry. Professional golfer Shane Lowry has signed a significant long-term partnership with Consello, the global advisory and investing platform. Under the partnership, Lowry will serve as a Consello Ambassador, with the Consello logo appearing on his golf apparel throughout the PGA and DP World Tour season and at other related appearances (more here).

• Richard Chaifetz Joins San Francisco Giants Ownership Group. Richard Chaifetz, a prominent St. Louis business leader, billionaire, and philanthropist, has joined the ownership group of MLB’s San Francisco Giants. Chaifetz is a well-known sports investor whose past investments include Drone Racing League, Team Liquid, and the Alpine F1 team. Financial terms of Chaifetz’s ownership stake in the Giants were not disclosed (more here).

• Former WNBA Star Renee Montgomery Invests In The Sports Bra. Former WNBA player and part-owner of the Atlanta Dream, Renee Montgomery, is now an investor in The Sports Bra, a Portland-based sports bar dedicated to women’s sports and their fans. Montgomery, a two-time WNBA champion and Unrivaled Basketball commentator, will also serve as the strategic creative advisor. Financial details of her investment were not disclosed (more here).

• Burnley FC Selects Startups For Innovation Hub. Burnley FC has selected three tech companies to work with through their innovation lab. More than 200 companies worldwide applied, and six finalists presented their solutions to a judging panel comprised of leadership from Burnley FC and ALK Capital, as well as industry expert advisors. The three final companies selected were Camb.ai, Mantis XR, and Piing. The companies will work alongside Burnley FC’s operations to deploy and test their technologies in real club environments (more here).

• How World Cup Champion Mario Götze Built A Parallel Career As An Angel Investor. Mario Götze will go down in soccer history as the player who scored the winning goal that made Germany the 2014 FIFA World Cup champion. But he is also an increasingly seasoned angel investor. Companion M, Götze’s personal investment vehicle, now has a portfolio of over 70 companies, two of which became unicorns in 2025. But the athlete also learned some lessons along the way about vetting opportunities (more here).

• Gabelli Launches New "Sports-Focused" ETF. Gabelli Funds (“Gabelli”) announced the launch of GOLS on the NYSE. GOLS is an actively managed ETF that will provide investors with access to the global sports and live entertainment economy. Most franchises remain privately held with limited access to individual investors, but Gabelli Opportunities in Live and Sports ETF (“GOLS”) provides investors with the opportunity to own public equities across the sports ecosystem (more here).

• WPP Media Launches New Sports Practice. WPP Media, the media-buying arm of advertising giant WPP, has launched a new sports and gaming practice. WPP Media Sports, as it’s called, is an expansion of the agency’s existing sports operations and will focus on sports sponsorships, integrations, and content across live events, streaming, social media, creators, gaming, and cultural platforms. The goal is to reduce fragmented planning and improve measurement across sports investments (more here).

• Chicago Stars FC Unveils Club-Owned Performance Center. NWSL’s Chicago Stars FC has unveiled plans to develop a player-centric performance center. In partnership with Populous and Marquee Development, the Chicago Stars’ sustainably built performance center will feature two full-sized soccer pitches and a goalkeeper-specific pitch. The 45,000-square-foot adaptive reuse building will include intentional recovery modalities, a weight room with easy indoor/outdoor access, and spaces designed to enable mindfulness (more here).

• Several Athletes Invest In Waiākea. Waiākea Hawaiian Volcanic Beverages has added three professional athletes to its investor and impact partner roster: Tetairoa McMillan, Devin Williams, and Jerami Grant. The latest round raised for the company is $11 million, with McMillan, Williams, and Grant contributing alongside other investors. Individual investment amounts were not disclosed. The athletes join the brand as both investors and advocates for its social and environmental initiatives. They also join Waiākea’s existing group of athlete partners, which includes Aaron Judge, Myles Garrett, Klay Thompson, and several Hawai‘i-born professional athletes across baseball, football, surfing, and volleyball (more here).

This week’s guest on the Vetted Sports podcast is Jake Hoselton.

Jake Hoselton is the CEO & Co-Founder of Grass Clippings and Grass League.

Grass Clippings is a pioneering golf brand that elevates the golfing experience by spotlighting the unsung heroes of the sport: greenskeepers.

The brand’s innovation extends to creating the Grass League, the first global high-stakes par 3 golf league in North America.

The league features competitive tournaments that include both amateur and professional players, all in team-based formats.

In this episode, we discuss:
‣ How the idea for the league came about
‣ The role influencers and creators play in the future of golf
‣ How they’re thinking about technology, media, and storytelling within their strategy

Check out the full episode here: Apple | Spotify | YouTube

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