The Big Lead

Private equity takeover of the sports world comes for popular media brand

By J.P. Hoornstra

Jul 27, 2024; New York, NY, USA; AC Milan midfielder Christian Pulisic (11) gives an interview after the game against Manchester City at Yankee Stadium.
Jul 27, 2024; New York, NY, USA; AC Milan midfielder Christian Pulisic (11) gives an interview after the game against Manchester City at Yankee Stadium. / Lucas Boland-Imagn Images
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Following the money in professional sports is getting harder and harder these days. Between the proliferation of name, image and likeness (NIL) deals for college athletes, and private equity firms investing in teams formerly owned by individuals and their families, the money is growing — and always changing hands.

Front Office Sports has been on the vanguard of sorting it all out. The media channel, founded in 2019, offers coverage of all things sports business via its website, YouTube channel, and social media accounts.

Now, the same private equity firm that owns European soccer club AC Milan and the domestic Fenway Sports Group conglomerate is teaming with a media investment company to buy a majority stake in Front Office Sports. RedBird IMI, led by CEO Jeff Zucker, is a joint venture between RedBird Capital Partners and International Media Investments.

“Front Office Sports has established itself as a great investment for RedBird IMI,” Zucker, the new chair of FOS' Board of Directors, said in a press release. “The company has grown its revenue by 85% year-over-year, and we’ve seen the business of sports become a mainstay in the media industry. RedBird IMI is focused on investing in cross-platform media companies that are breaking news, driving the cultural conversation, and capturing audiences in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Front Office Sports is deeply connected to the industry and poised for growth.”

RedBird Capital, founded in 2014, manages approximately $10 billion in assets. Its investments include AC Milan (which it bought from Elliott Investment Management in Aug. 2022 for 1.2 billion Euros), Fenway Sports Group (which owns the Boston Red Sox, Liverpool of the Premier League, the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins, and NASCAR's RFK racing, among others), and OneTeam Partners (a joint venture between the NFLPA, MLBPA and RedBird to help athletes capitalize on NIL rights).

What does it all mean?

The degrees of separation between RedBird founder Gerry Cardinale and the bylined writers at FOS are so many, it's unlikely to create a conflict of interest if, for example, FOS chooses to report on the inner workings of the Red Sox or AC Milan executive offices. But it might. It's at least ironic for a sports media entity whose job is following the money in sports, to report on the same private equity money that bankrolls itself as a majority owner.

It's another instance of sports business reflecting non-sports business, where media stakeholders increasingly don't exist in their own silos, separate from the businesses they cover. And, for FOS, it's validation of their business model — a rare success story in a 21st-century media landscape littered with failures.

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