Palash Ghosh
Dec 9, 2025
Buying majority stake in Arctos Partners would make KKR a frontrunner in sports investments
By Palash Ghosh
KKR & Co. is reportedly in negotiations to purchase a majority stake in Arctos Partners in a bid to enter into the sphere of sports teams ownership.
As Arctos is the largest and most prominent investor in the sports space, Kyle Walters, private equity analyst at PitchBook, said that an acquisition like this would make KKR a frontrunner in sports investments.
Arctos is heavily involved in sports teams ownership, having acquired stakes in the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League; the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association; and the Boston Red Sox, Houston Astros and San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball, among many other sports clubs.
KKR has invested in various sports-related holdings in the media, gaming and entertainment sectors under a group led by partner Ted Oberwager. Such properties include online gaming firm FanDuel Group; video game and software developer Epic Games Inc.; PlayOn! Sports Network, a high school sports media firm; and Ultimate Fighting Championship, a promoter of mixed martial arts tournaments. They do not own any stakes in any sports teams.
KKR currently has about $723 billion in assets under management, including $222 billion in private equity. Arctos has about $15 billion in assets under management.
The KKR-Arctos transaction, if completed, would also mark another step in KKR’s strategy to diversify its holdings beyond traditional buyouts and credit. In early 2024, KKR completed its acquisition of insurance giant Global Atlantic Financial Group at a total cost of about $6.9 billion.
Shana Orczyk Sissel, CEO of Banríon Capital Management, and an expert in alternative investments, suggested that not only would such a deal help KKR to diversify its business, but that Arctos is an especially attractive target since the firm has been approved by the NFL as a PE firm that would be allowed to purchase up to 10% of an NFL team.
KKR, on the other hand, has not yet been approved by the NFL since it has no history or sports teams investments. “Arctos was one of the earliest PE firms to dive into sports clubs and they are now one of the biggest players in this space,” she said.
Sports teams are particularly attractive to private equity firms due to their soaring valuations, robust media rights deals and the perception that such properties are uncorrelated to most other asset classes, she added.
For example, Forbes estimated that the 30 teams in the NBA currently have an average value of $5.4 billion, an increase of 21% over last year and more than double the average of $2.5 billion from only four seasons ago.
Banríon is an alternative asset technology platform that advises clients on alternatives.
Other private equity firms have also pursued investments in the sporting arena. In September, Apollo Global Management launched Apollo Sports Capital, a new investment business unit designed to acquire global sports and live events assets. Since that launch, Apollo has purchased a majority stake in professional Spanish soccer club Atlético de Madrid and a minority stake in Wrexham Association Football Club.
Similarly, in May, alternative asset manager TPG formed a partnership with professional golfer Rory McIlroy and his investment firm, Symphony Ventures, to launch a dedicated sports investing business called TPG Sports.
Also, alternative investor Ares Management has acquired a diverse portfolio of sports properties, including European soccer clubs Atlético de Madrid and Chelsea Football Club, as well as the NFL’s Miami Dolphins.
Walters of PitchBook added that should the KKR-Arctos deal be announced, it “would mark the latest instance where one of the big private equity managers makes its way into the sports ecosystem, this time via inorganic growth, compared to its peers, Ares and Apollo, which have built in-house units for this growing ecosystem.”
A spokesperson for KKR declined to comment, while officials at Arctos could not be reached for comment.