Marc Lasry Sports Fund Raises $445M as It Pursues NWSL’s Angel City

Former Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry has raised more than $445 million in his Avenue Sports Opportunities Fund, according to two documents filed with the Securities & Exchange this week.

Billionaire Lasry launched the fund in October to focus on “a wide variety of sports teams, leagues, owners, sports-related media and entertainment rights, sports-related real estate, facilities and other sports intellectual property-adjacent businesses,” the business stated in a March regulatory filing.

Its June filings show the fund has raised $445.1 million, an increase in commitments of nearly $175 million in a few weeks. The fund already has been active, scooping up the San Francisco expansion franchise of TGL, the golf league formed by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. The fund is also in the mix to buy a controlling stake in Angel City FC, the most valuable NWSL franchise.

In addition to purchasing minority stakes in franchises of all stripes, the Avenue Sports fund is focusing on women’s sports in established and upstart leagues, as well as providing capital solutions to sports leagues. While the fund is mainly U.S.-focused, it is also open to investments globally and in areas such as sports betting, ticketing and AI, according to its disclosures. A representative for Avenue declined comment.

The sports fund is part of Avenue Capital, a $12.3 billion (assets) private equity firm co-founded by Lasry with Sonia Gardner in 1995. The sports fund is managed day to day by Jon Greenbaum, who is winding down his oversight of an Avenue fund focused on acquiring distressed insurance assets related to the pandemic, and Todd Marcy, who has experience as a portfolio manager in sports and media assets at Blue Harbour Group.

Lasry sold his stake in the Bucks in a deal valuing the franchise at $3.2 billion last spring as he was planning to launch the sports fund.

Pitchbook first reported news of the latest regulatory filings for Avenue’s sports-specific fund.