Rory McIlroy Dives Deeper Into Private Equity
Mr. McIlroy's investment firm, Symphony Ventures, is teaming up with the private equity firm TPG to start TPG Sports, an investment fund that will place bets on businesses across the sports industry.
Mr. McIlroy started Symphony Ventures with his business partner, Sean O'Flaherty, in 2019. Both men will serve as operating partners for TPG Sports.
'We were talking about what's the next step for us,' Mr. McIlroy said in an interview. 'The timing was right.'
Mr. McIlroy's increasing immersion in business is not uncommon among golf's greats; Tiger Woods, Greg Norman and Jack Nicklaus have all built big business portfolios around golf and beyond. But his partnership with TPG comes as record dollars are flowing into sports. Competition by media companies over premium live content has driven up valuations of traditional teams and created demand for new ones.
'Sports is undergoing a big transformation,' Mr. McIlroy said. 'There is a lot of investment going into the sports world and trying to make it more professional — and trying to bring it into the 21st century.'
Mr. McIlroy has been taking advantage of those opportunities. Investments by Symphony Ventures include Golf Genius, a golf tournament software platform, and Puttery, an immersive mini-golf experience. In 2022, Mr. McIlroy also co-founded a company that helped create TGL, a team-based high-tech golf league that has drawn investors like Arthur Blank, a co-founder of Home Depot and the owner of the Atlanta Falcons, and Steven Cohen, the owner of the New York Mets.
Mr. McIlroy's investment focus led him to TPG. The firm brought him on as an investor in some of its prior deals, like its stake in Troon, the golf course management company, in 2021.
TPG is making its official foray into sports as investors face a volatile landscape, with President Trump's tariffs rattling the stock market and analysts saying a recession is becoming more likely.
'Probably the best opportunities that we've seen and invested in over the past 30 years have also come at moments of uncertainty,' Todd Sisitsky, the president of TPG, said. TPG is launching TPG Sports with a secured investment commitment from Lunate, an investment fund based in Abu Dhabi. TPG did not disclose the size of that investment.
TPG manages more than $200 billion in assets and has extensive experience in the media industry, which is increasingly entwined with sports. Among those deals are DirecTV and Creative Artists Agency.
Mr. McIlroy brings a different sort of experience. As a former member of the influential PGA Tour Policy Board, he was briefly on the front lines of deal talks between the PGA Tour and the Saudi sovereign wealth fund. (The talks have since stalled.) He stepped down in 2023 to focus on golf, his family — and his growing investing portfolio.
'I just felt like something had to give,' Mr. McIlroy said at the time.
Some of his business bets may take years to blossom. For now, Mr. McIlroy is looking for a win at this month's P.G.A. Championship.
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