As a sports fan myself (I’m a die-hard Manchester United fan, for those who watch Premier League football—or “soccer,” to us Americans), I’ve always kept an eye on who owns which team, or what firm or executive is acquiring what stake. Money, after all, can have the power to influence teams’ performance. In recent years, alternative asset managers—that group of investors which includes private equity, venture capital, and hedge funds—have been actively investing in the sports arena. But who is buying chunks of teams?
My colleague Luisa Beltran rolled up her sleeves and went digging—and she found 120 ‘alt’ executives who have invested in sports teams, as she reported in her latest feature. As Luisa writes:
