Sports fund nearly doubles capital raise as it targets Angel City FC stake

The GIST: A few months after Angel City FC announced its controlling equity stake sale, a likely contender for club control has emerged — former Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry’s Avenue Sports Opportunities Fund. Following its October launch, a new Sportico report indicates the fund has already raised $445.1M as it targets rising sports properties like Angel City. A major player.

The context: The sports fund is part of Avenue Capital, a private equity firm with $12.3B in assets that Lasry co-founded with sister Sonia Gardner in 1995. Last spring, Lasry sold his 25% stake in the Bucks — which he purchased for $550M in 2014 — for a $3.5B valuation. Under Lasry’s stewardship, the Bucks got a brand new Fiserv Forum in 2018 and an NBA championship in 2021.

The details: June filings show the fund raised $445.1M, an increase in commitments of nearly $175M in a few weeks. So far, Avenue has nabbed TGL’s San Francisco outfit, SailGP’s U.S. team, and even a professional bull riding team, and is reportedly “in the mix” for purchasing a controlling stake in Angel City, the NWSL’s most valuable franchise.

• Last May, Lasry stated interest in investing in women’s sports and properties in Africa and Asia, as well as providing capital influx to teams. So far, the fund has primarily been focused on U.S. properties, and also wants to get involved with sports betting, ticketing, and AI.

Zooming out: Established men’s sports teams like the Bucks have relatively limited growth in a saturated market — buy-in is at a premium, so it’s not the ideal playground for a start-up private equity sports fund. Lasry’s new fund is clearly focused on emerging sports markets, and the women’s sports industry has proven its ROI after capital investment. Green is good.