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The production company behind the popular and influential Formula 1: Drive to Survive docuseries has a new minority owner, furthering already-active investor interest in sports and entertainment content development.
Box to Box Films has completed a deal with Bruin Capital in which the investment company, based in White Plains, N.Y., will make a “significant” minority investment. Financial terms were not released, but industry sources tell Front Office Sports that Bruin’s investment in Box to Box is about $38 million.
In addition to Drive to Survive, Box to Box is also involved in other major sports documentary projects including the PGA Tour-focused Full Swing, tennis’ Break Point, and is now in development on a new behind-the-scenes docuseries with MLS. Drive to Survive in particular has been a catalyst in expanding F1’s American popularity over the last five years, and now serves as a template for many other sports-related film projects.
Bruin, meanwhile, was a key backer of On Location, an event management company that through a relationship with the NFL dominates the Super Bowl ticket market, and streaming technology company Deltatre, which works with the NFL, MLB, and UEFA, among many others.
Box to Box will use the Bruin funds to expand into new content areas and explore further acquisitions. Other major investments in sports-related production companies include the NFL buying into Skydance Media, and Peter Chernin’s The North Road Company becoming a minority investor in Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions.
“On top of being world-class storytellers, the team’s ability to turn insider’s access into definable business growth and meaningful value creation is why everyone in the industry is looking to work with them,” said George Pyne, Bruin Capital founder and CEO, of Box to Box.
The Box to Box deal is unrelated to Bruin’s recent sale of a majority interest in sports marketing agency Two Circles to London-based private equity firm Charterhouse Capital Partners for more than $300 million.
