NBA Team ‘Top Priority’ for Fenway Sports Group

Fenway Sports Group could be adding an NBA team to its roster. Oh, and also an NFL team, a WNBA team, a cricket team, and a second soccer team.

Gerry Cardinale, the founder and managing partner of RedBird Capital Partners — which invested $750 million in Fenway Sports Group for an 11% stake last year — says adding an NBA franchise is “a real top priority” for FSG, with wishful thinking for the other sports teams mentioned down the road. 

The Ringer’s Bill Simmons reported that Fenway Sports Group is the leading contender to bring an NBA team to Las Vegas.

FSG is primarily known as the parent company of the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool FC but has other high-profile investments in its portfolio.

• The company purchased a majority stake in the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins for roughly $900 million late last year.
• In October 2021, FSG invested in Lebron James and Maverick Carter’s The SpringHill Company. James became an investor in FSG in March 2021 and became a part-owner of Liverpool FC in 2011. 
• FSG also owns New England Sports Network.

The FSG Funnel

“Everything’s in play I would say, but as usual we’re going to have a very strict funnel,” Cardinale told The Boston Globe. “The bar has never been higher in terms of what really fits in the [FSG] portfolio.”

Forbes’ most recent valuation of FSG is nearly $10 billion.