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Marc Lasry launches sports investment fund for women's sports
May 18, 2023
Hedge fund manager Marc Lasry. Photo: Noam Galai/Getty Images
Marc Lasry announced his new fund, Avenue Sports Fund, Wednesday at SALT's iConnections conference in New York.
Why it matters: The fund figures to be a boon to the growing women's sports industry.
Details: The fund will be focused on women's sports teams in the U.S., basketball teams in Africa and other sports teams in Asia.
- "There's massive interest in sports worldwide. With the new fund, we thought we'd invest in women's sports, basketball, teams in Africa, Asia, and lend money to teams. There's huge opportunity, and a lot of it is in media rights," said the hedge fund manager.
- Lasry recently sold his 25% stake in the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks.
The big picture: Women's basketball and soccer are among the fastest-growing sports in the U.S.
- Women's sports were touted numerous times during this week's upfront presentations to advertisers.
- Disney's upfront on Tuesday featured WNBA star Breanna Stewart and Louisiana State University's Angel Reese on stage. Fox brought out Team USA soccer alum Carly Lloyd to talk up the network's upcoming coverage of the Women's World Cup this summer.
- The WNBA is heading into its new season coming off its best ratings in 14 years. The women’s NCAA final between LSU and Iowa in April was the most-watched women’s college basketball game in history.
