AC Milan is adding two big names to its list of high-profile sports investors.

MLB’s New York Yankees and the Main Street Advisors investment fund are reportedly becoming stakeholders in the Serie A team. 

The pair would join RedBird Capital Partners, which entered an agreement in June to purchase the team from Elliott Management. Elliott acquired the club in 2018 after former owner Li Yonghong missed a loan-repayment deadline.

• The acquisition valued the club at $1.2 billion.
• The Financial Times stated that Elliott agreed to lend RedBird $602 million to help with the latter’s takeover. 
• RedBird has reportedly been looking for co-investors to reduce the size of the loan, which has a 7% interest rate.

RedBird is expected to take control of the team on Aug. 31, when the Yankees and Main Street are likely to be officially announced as investors.

The deal could lead to AC Milan broadcasts on the YES Network, a regional sports network owned by the Yankees, RedBird, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Amazon, Blackstone, and Mubadala.

Soccer Status

The Yankees are MLB’s most valuable franchise with a $6 billion valuation.

AC Milan would be the team’s second soccer investment — they have a 20% stake in Major League Soccer’s New York City FC after partnering with Manchester City in 2013 to launch the team.

LIV Golf has lured the world’s second-ranked golfer, which now gives the upstart series over a quarter of the top 100.

Cameron Smith, second to only Scottie Scheffler in the World Golf Rankings, is joining the Saudi-backed tour, along with Joaquin Niemann (19th), Harold Varner III (46th), Cameron Tringale (55th), Marc Leishman (62nd), and Anirban Lahiri (92nd).

• LIV Golf now has 26 of the world’s top 100 golfers under contract.
• Smith’s deal is reportedly for at least $100 million.
• The announcement follows the completion of the PGA Tour season, capped by LIV critic Rory McIlroy’s victory at the Tour Championship, which lifted him to the top of the FedEx Cup standings and netted him $18 million.

Hideki Matsuyama, Japan’s top player and 16th worldwide, is staying with the PGA Tour for now after turning down an offer that may have been between $300 million and $400 million.

PGA’s Evolution

The PGA Tour’s next season will feature 12 events in the FedEx Cup regular season with an average prize purse of $20 million, as it seeks to counter the rise of LIV Golf. It’s also doubling the total payout of its Player Impact Program to $100 million.

In what may be the most intriguing development on the horizon, Tiger Woods and McIlroy are working with the PGA Tour to develop a new, tech-enabled golf league that will be played in stadiums.

Software and venture firm Animoca Brands, an NBA Top Shot investor, plans to raise $100 million in a funding round that will include Singaporean state holding company Temasek, according to Bloomberg.

It’s the latest influx of fresh capital for Animoca Brands, which raised $359 million in January and $75 million in another round in July.

• Animoca Brands is valued at $6 billion.
• The firm owns more than 340 gaming, social media, and finance companies.
• It’s an investor in NBA Top Shot and Fan Controlled Football.

Earlier this month, the company’s Japanese business completed a $45 million raise that included MUFG Bank — the largest bank in Japan. That funding will be allocated toward Web3 growth. 

A Great Start 

Animoca Brands generated $573 million in revenue over the first four months of 2022.

The results were driven by its diverse portfolio of investments and the sale of NFTs. During the period, the Hong Kong-based firm had a cash balance of $98 million.

As of June 2022, Animoca Brands holds digital asset reserves of roughly $4.2 billion.