The potential deal would give KKR access to Arctos’ portfolio of minority stakes across major US sports leagues including the NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL, as well as European football and Formula 1. Arctos currently manages approximately $14.1 billion in assets.
The investment firm KKR & Co. is, according to the Financial Times, Sports Business Journal and others, looking to acquire the sports-investment firm Arctos Partners – one of the private-equity firms approved by the NFL last year to take equity stakes in single teams. Arctos is also an investor in the Adidas-backed venture fund launched in early 2023 by Sapphire Sport and since spun off and renamed 359 Capital (in reference to Roger Bannister’s sub-four-minute mile).
KKR (headquarters in New York City, dozens of offices elsewhere) has about $28.6 billion invested in its own funds and portfolio companies and manages about $184 billion in invested capital, with $54 billion on hand to invest. It manages another $282 billion in credit – this apart from its $95 billion in infrastructure and $85 billion in real estate. The firm famously carried out – in 1988 and for $25 billion – the big leveraged buyout of food and tobacco conglomerate RJR Nabisco, since broken up.
The firm’s present exposure to the sports market is primarily through retail. In 2024, for example, it acquired Varsity Sports (Dallas) from Bain Capital and Charlesbank, for about $4.75 billion. Varsity is an American marketer, manufacturer and distributor of custom uniforms and sporting goods for schools at all levels and maintains deals with Nike, Adidas, Under Armor, New Balance and Lululemon.
KKR’s present-day target, Arctos, specializes in the purchase of mostly minority equity stakes in professional sports, which in its estimation provide “a unique combination of secular tailwinds and low correlation with traditional asset classes” – in other words, a tight ship in which to ride out rough seas.
These stakes can be in teams or in their holding groups. Through Fenway Sports Group Arctos has investments in the Boston Red Sox, Liverpool FC and Roush Fenway Racing (NASCAR), while through La Dea – the sub-holding company of Italy’s Percassi family – it has an investment in Atalanta BC. It holds direct minority stakes in the NBA’s Sacramento Kings, Utah Jazz and Golden State Warriors; the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers and Buffalo Bills; MLB’s Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros and San Francisco Giants; the NHL’s New Jersey Devils and Pittsburgh Penguins; Formula 1’s Aston Martin Aramco; and Paris Saint-Germain.
According to RevealDiligence, Arctos (offices in Dallas, New York and London) had about $14.1 billion under management in June 2025, up 44 percent year-on-year.
