Arctos Sports Partners has closed its investment into global consulting firm Elevate Sports Ventures, the latest addition to a rapidly growing portfolio of sports teams and other related businesses.
Arctos, which has raised at least $5 billion to deploy across the industry, will join current Elevate partners Oak View Group, the San Francisco 49ers, Live Nation (NYSE: LYV) and Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE), the parent company of the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils.
It’s unclear how much Arctos is investing, or how the deal values Elevate. Sportico first reported on the talks back in February.
“Arctos’ dedication to driving the global sports industry forward through investment, strategic approach and access to best-in-class insights, analytics and technology mirrors our own,” Elevate chairman and CEO Al Guido said in a statement. “It is a privilege to be so intrinsically connected to a firm that continues to make bold and pointed investments in the sports industry, with ambitions to advance the greater industry ecosystem.”
Launched in 2018, Elevate’s expertise includes hospitality sales, naming-rights deals, brand consulting, business analytics and sponsorship sales. The firm does business with some of the biggest sports and entertainment properties across the globe, and its 170-plus clients include the NCAA, NHL, U.S. Open, College Football Playoff and dozens of pro sports franchises around the world.
Arctos—led by private equity veteran Ian Charles and David “Doc” O’Connor, the former CEO of Madison Square Garden—has raised at least $5 billion to date. That includes $3.9 billion in its first fund, according to recent regulatory filing, and $1.1 billion in a second fund, according an email sent to clients last week.
To date, most of Arctos’ publicly reported investments have been sports teams or leagues, but there are obvious synergies between Elevate’s business and the rest of the Arctos portfolio. Arctos has made more than a dozen investments into franchises across the NHL, NBA, MLB, MLS and European soccer. They include the Golden State Warriors, Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers, three of the 10 most valuable franchises in the U.S., according to Sportico’s calculations.
There are other business ties between Arctos and Elevate—Arctos is an investor in MLS club Real Salt Lake, which HBSE co-founder David Blitzer bought earlier this year.
