Alex Rodriguez is reportedly looking to launch a buyout fund to invest in sports teams.
The New York Post reports that its source says, “A-Rod is gunning for a war chest in ‘the billions.’”
A representative from A-Rod Corp declined to comment when contacted by Front Office Sports.
The former MLB star is looking to purchase minority stakes in franchises across the NFL, MLB, and NHL. Rodriguez, who already co-owns the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves, might also consider soccer and cricket franchises overseas.
Marc Lore, who invested $250 million with A-Rod for a 20% stake in the Timberwolves in July 2021, is reportedly not a part of Rodriguez’s plans for the buyout fund. A-Rod and Lore increased their stake in the Timberwolves to 40% in March with plans to make another payment that would increase their stake to 60% over the next year.
A-Rod’s potential fund would jockey with an array of private equity firms that have committed to buying shares in major sports teams — including Arctos Sports Partners, RedBird Capital, Ares Management, Sixth Street, and Dyal Capital.
In 2020, Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez led an investment group seeking to buy the New York Mets prior to Steve Cohen’s $2.4 billion purchase of the team.
“The truth is we tried to make a run at the Mets, and we had a hell of a run. We came second to Steve Cohen, who’s doing an incredible job,” Rodriguez recently told Bloomberg.
The ex-slugger’s A-Rod Corp has invested more than $5 billion in real estate assets. The firm also manages a SPAC called Slam Corp that attempted to merge with Panini to take the collectibles company public in 2021, but those plans never materialized.
