Rory McIlroy has made a big move in the investment world by teaming up with a $200 billion investment fund, and he has discussed the possibility of buying an NFL or NBA team
Rory McIlroy has opened up on his investment plans(Image: CNBC)
Rory McIlroy has joined forces with a $200 billion private equity fund, but do not expect to see the Masters champion buying up pieces of sports teams anytime soon.
The five-time major champion has been a big-time player in the investment world since launching Symphony Ventures alongside his agent Sean O’Flaherty in 2019, and the world No. 2 announced this week he has teamed up with TPG to launch TPG Sports, with the intent of injecting cash into fledgling businesses.
McIlroy and O’Flaherty have been named operating partners of the new company. They have previously entered deals with TPG, which manages assets worth $200 billion and boasts investments in DirecTV and Creative Artists Agency, whose clients include Beyonce, Jennifer Aniston and Paul George.
McIlroy’s investment portfolio includes stakes in F1 team Alpine, health and fitness brand Whoop and golf management firm Troon, with TPG playing a significant role in the Northern Irishman’s deal with the latter.
“At the back end of 2023, Sean and I were talking about what was our next step on our journey in the investment world,” McIlroy told CNBC on Friday. “We started talking to TPG and they were starting to look at the sports space, which has become pretty interesting over the past few years.
“We’ve always had a relationship, but I think the launch of TPG Sports is a formalization of the relationship we’ve always had.”
The 35-year-old, who also owns a piece of the tech-powered golf league, TGL, which he founded alongside Tiger Woods, made clear that TPG Sports is not interested in “𝓈ℯ𝓍y trophy assets” such as NFL and NBA teams.
Instead, McIlroy and TPG president Todd Sisitsky are looking for investment opportunities in “sports adjacent” companies, and they believe it is an exciting time to invest in the ever-growing world of sport.
“I don’t think this is going to be a fund where you’re looking at minority passive investments in NFL teams,” McIlroy continued. “It’s more, can we find interesting businesses that are fuelling the growth of sport, whatever sport that is, and be boots on the ground and help those businesses really grow.
“That’s something TPG have a lot of experience at, and Sean and I have been able to help some of these businesses that we are involved with grow.
“It mightn’t be the 𝓈ℯ𝓍y trophy asset of an NFL or NBA team, but the businesses that are sports adjacent that are helping a lot of these leagues and these teams grow and bring them into the 21st century.”
Sisitsky added: “Sports are something we’ve spent a lot of time thinking about. It has a lot of characteristics that are similar to the sectors that we have built practices in over the past two, three decades.
“It has this combination of secular growth and transformative growth that is in many cases driven by the technology and how that changes the way sports are consumed and the way that fans connect with their favorite stars and their favorite teams. That is a really interesting set of characteristics.”