Private equity has been moving deeper into sports ownership – and now it wants to bring individual wealth along for the ride. Ares Management Corp. is preparing to launch a sports, media and entertainment fund for high-net-worth European individuals later this year, according to Bloomberg, replicating a strategy the Los Angeles-based alternative asset manager introduced in the US in June 2025.
The planned vehicle will deploy both debt and equity into sports leagues, teams and sports-related businesses, as well as media and entertainment companies, Bloomberg reported, citing a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified. The news was also reported by Private Equity International, drawing on PitchBook data.
The fund sits at the crossroads of two defining shifts in private equity: the rush into sports as an asset class, and the race to open institutional-grade strategies to individual investors.
Private Equity’s €10bn European sports rush: Why club ownership is the new frontier
Ares has been building its sports portfolio for several years. In 2022, the firm closed its first institutional sports fund at $3.7 billion (€3.4 billion), and has since taken stakes in Chelsea Football Club, Major League Soccer franchise Inter Miami, the Miami Dolphins in the National Football League (NFL) and a French SailGP team backed by Kylian Mbappé.
The European market Ares is now entering is increasingly crowded. PE investment in European sports surpassed $10 billion for only the third time on record in 2025, according to PitchBook data cited by Private Equity International.
CVC Capital Partners has assembled what it calls the Global Sport Group—a $14 billion vehicle combining stakes in Spanish football’s LaLiga, Six Nations rugby and the club-based United Rugby Championship. It is described as the largest PE sports fund ever raised. Apollo has established its own sports vehicle, while KKR recently announced the acquisition of Arctos Partners, gaining indirect exposure to Liverpool FC, Paris Saint-Germain and the Aston Martin F1 team.
For European clients, sports funds carry particular appeal: the continent’s club ownership landscape has historically been fragmented and underfunded, and PE is increasingly the capital partner enabling professional operations and global commercial expansion.
