Constant Sports Community #115

Quick Hits

1. Apollo is pushing hard into sports and may buy Atlético de Madrid. Apollo is in advanced talks to buy a majority stake in Atlético; the move sits alongside reports the firm is building a ~$5B sports vehicle to deploy across teams, leagues, and sports-related assets. This is the clearest sign yet that large PE players are building permanent capital strategies aimed squarely at sports.

2. MSP Sports Capital completed an exit from McLaren Racing. MSP sold its stake to the McLaren Group; the deal and follow-up reporting imply a valuation in the multi-billion-pound range and underscore that specialized sports PE can still create liquidity through strategic sales to operator groups.

3. Sports holding companies are experimenting with treasuries and crypto. Brera Holdings (multiclub owner) announced a pivot, renaming and moving part of its balance sheet toward crypto staking and a private placement backed by UAE buyers and notable allocators. It’s a risky, high-velocity signal: clubs and sports holding companies are treating treasury strategy as active financial engineering.

4. Women’s sports keep attracting institutional capital. Unrivaled, the 3-on-3 women’s basketball league closed a later-stage round, valuing the business at ~$340M with strong strategic and celebrity financing behind it. This is signal-rich for investability in women’s live sports formats.

5. M&A in youth and grassroots tech continues quietly but strategically. Signature Athletics acquired iSport360 (youth sports software), illustrating the consolidation playbook in youth sports tech: buy vertical SaaS for distribution into apparel/ops businesses.

Deal activity

Fundraises & rounds

• Playback — raised a meaningful growth round as it scales interactive livestreaming and co-viewing product-market fit with MLB/NBA partners (example of fan-engagement platforms securing strategic investors).

• Unrivaled — Series B and valuation round highlighting continued investor appetite for women’s sports properties.

Exits / M&A

• MSP Sports Capital → McLaren Group: MSP’s sale of its McLaren Racing equity interest closed in early September — a rare liquidity event and a useful comp for funds holding team assets.

• Signature Athletics → iSport360: a tuck-in acquisition expanding platform capability for youth sports operator networks.

Investor & Fund Movements

• Apollo’s $5B sports vehicle is the lead story for allocators and sponsors: permanent capital from mega-PE changes the return/holding-period calculus for team and league assets and raises competition for late-stage sports platforms.

• Specialized sports PE (MSP et al.) is crystallizing value. MSP’s McLaren exit proves that sector specialists can generate returns and then sell to strategic operators — attractive for LPs wanting sports exposure with an exit path.

• Venture funds focused on sports (Courtside, SeventySix, Elysian Park, etc.) remain active. Expect more Series A/B interest in fan engagement, performance/data SaaS, and creator-first media.

Sector spotlight — NIL, compliance, and the money flow

Two simultaneous forces are reshaping NIL-related capital flows: (1) donor fatigue vs. re-structured revenue models, and (2) heightened regulatory and tax scrutiny. The settlement and related policy shifts earlier this year have re-drawn the economics for collectives and institutional donors; legal and tax advisers now flag NIL collectives for IRS attention and enforcement in 2025. That dual pressure — less predictable donations and more regulatory overhead — is already nudging investors and operators to be more conservative with large, long-duration NIL investments.

What we’re watching: how schools and collectives reprice deals, whether family offices step in to underwrite multi-year NIL vehicles, and whether funds start underwriting compliance and escrow structures as part of the product. Expect deals that bake legal/escrow structures into their unit economics.

By the numbers (quick reference)

• Sports tech disclosed deal value H1 2025: ~$52B (M&A + disclosed deals), with $6.6B in private financings across 239 agreements in H1. (signals: big-ticket M&A + concentrated private financings).

• Sports tech equity capital YTD (Aug 2025): ~$5.7B (Capstone Partners analysis — volume down but capital deployed up, signaling larger-ticket growth/PE deals).

• Notable valuation / exit comps this week: McLaren’s implied group valuation sits in the multi-billion-pound range after the MSP transaction; Unrivaled valued at ~$340M post-round.

Looking ahead (what to monitor next 30–90 days)

• Apollo exclusivity / Atletico outcome (mid-Oct window). If that closes or widens, PE appetite and deal comps for European clubs will reset quickly.

• Follow-on sales from MSP/others. Where strategic buyers (operator groups, sovereign wealth, conglomerates) allocate next capital tells us whether valuations sustain.

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