Guggenheim’s Mark Walter builds a sporting empire

For the first time in 15 years, the winner of the Uefa Champions League won’t be from England, Spain or Germany. On the face of it, representatives of France and Italy — the two poorer members of Europe’s big five leagues by revenue — might seem like underdogs.

That’s not exactly true. Paris Saint-Germain is fuelled by gas-rich Qatar, while Milan-based Internazionale is now owned by Oaktree Capital, a heavyweight distressed-debt investor with more than $200bn under management. Put it that way, and it doesn’t sound quite so romantic. But it should make for a heck of a final.

At least Premier League blushes will be partly spared thanks to Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, who will meet for an all-English final in the second-tier Europa League. Both sides are languishing in the bottom half of the Premier League after a miserable domestic season. The Europa League offers an alternative route to qualify for the lucrative and prestigious Champions League, so there’s a lot at stake for owners, players and fans.

This week, we’re looking at the sports empire built by financier Mark Walter, and we bring you the latest attempt to shake up the sports broadcast model, this time through gaming. Do read on — Samuel Agini, sports business correspondent

The AI investor behind the Dodgers

Just over two months ago, Mark Walter, chief executive of Guggenheim Partners and chair of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team, and former Legendary Entertainment owner Thomas Tull combined nearly $40bn in personal investments under the TWG Global name.

At the end of last month, TWG unveiled plans to raise $15bn from investors, including Abu Dhabi investment manager Mubadala Capital.

And this week, Tull told the FT that TWG is seeking to make large acquisitions and seed new investments in artificial intelligence across the financial services, sports and defence sectors.

As well as being the controlling shareholder in the Dodgers, Walter built up sizeable stakes in a range of sports assets in the years leading up to his tie-up with Tull. TWG’s interests now span the LA Lakers in the National Basketball Association, the LA Sparks in the Women’s NBA, and Chelsea Football Club in the English Premier League.

The group is a major investor in car racing, including teams that compete in electric championship Formula E, US-based Indycar and the Nascar series. Its motorsport arm has teamed up with General Motors to enter Formula 1 next year under the Cadillac brand, accelerating its presence across the ecosystem.

Walter has also bought into competition organisers. In August 2023, TWG Global’s sports arm partnered with the International Tennis Federation, the governing body and competition organiser. TWG took 49 per cent of a new joint venture that owns the Billie Jean Cup, the women’s competition that was rebranded from the Fed Cup in 2020.

You can be sure that Walter comes armed with a deep understanding of financial engineering when it comes to acquisitions and structuring payments to players. Just look at why he paid a then-record $2.15bn for the Dodgers in 2012 and then went on to sign star talent, including Shohei Ohtani in 2023 on a then record-breaking 10-year deal worth $700mn.

But he knows the value of working with athletes too, with basketball legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson a member of the ownership group at the Dodgers. Tennis icon Billie Jean King has been a minority shareholder in the Dodgers since 2018. She is also on the advisory board of the Professional Women’s Hockey League, another Walter investment.

TWG’s ambitions go beyond sport. One of its first big bets is a partnership with Elon Musk’s xAI and data intelligence company Palantir to launch an AI platform for banks and insurers to collate and analyse huge volumes of financial data.

With fresh capital to hunt for more deals, AI could be the new frontier in sports. And who would bet against Walter, who introduced financial engineering to the Dodgers and ushered in the wave of private equity cash into the sports world.

EA, MLS and the gamified future of live sport

Last year, Electronic Arts laid out grand ambitions to turn EA FC — its long-running football franchise and by some measure the most successful in video game history — into a one-stop shop for fans. The idea was to create an online platform where fans could play the game, buy merchandise and match tickets, and watch live games.

Today, that vision takes a step closer to reality. As part of a deal announced this week with Major League Soccer, this afternoon’s match between LA Galaxy and New York Red Bulls will be broadcast live worldwide through the EA FC Mobile app. A handful of other MLS games will be shown the same way in future. The global element was made possible thanks to the media rights deal MLS has with Apple.

There are some interesting details. Those who watch the matches will be rewarded with in-game currency, which can be used to buy players and other items, and offered a one-month free pass to watch the MLS on Apple+. In a statement, MLS said it was “reaching new and digitally native audiences around the world and continuing to broaden the way we’re building relationships with fans”.

This is part of a trend across sport of experimenting with the way live events are broadcast. During the Qatar World Cup in 2022, Fifa allowed a popular gamer to stream live matches on his Twitch account. Amazon has recently been dabbling with pay-per-view for individual football matches.

For now, rights holders are in trial and error mode and much of this remains low-risk. Offering tens of millions of football fans a free taster of something that is otherwise not in high demand (in this case MLS matches) looks to be a no brainer. Gamifying the experience will also help gauge changing consumer behaviour in a way not possible before.

With the old broadcast model coming under strain, even for prime content, we can expect to see more and more of this in the coming months. But where it’s all heading remains anyone’s guess.

Highlights

• Inter Miami owner David Beckham and football pundit Gary Neville set up a new ownership group for Salford City Football Club, buying out fellow shareholders Singaporean businessman Peter Lim and former Manchester United teammates Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Philip Neville. Beckham and Neville’s new ownership group includes PR guru Declan Kelly and former banker and politician Lord Mervyn Davies.

• The government’s pick for chair of the UK’s new football regulator has rejected concerns that he could be “susceptible” to political pressure because of his history of donations to the Labour party. David Kogan, a veteran media executive, told MPs on Wednesday that he had contributed “very small sums of money” to the campaigns of both prime minister Sir Keir Starmer and culture secretary Lisa Nandy in the party’s leadership contest five years ago.

• Rising tensions between India and Pakistan have prompted organisers to suspend the Indian Premier League for one week. You can read the FT’s briefing on the military situation here.

• Donald Trump said the 2026 Fifa World Cup could be a “good incentive” for Russia to stop the war in Ukraine. However, the US President said the question of Russia’s participation was for Fifa boss Gianni Infantino to decide. Football authorities suspended Russia from international competitions after Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Transfer Market

• Audi restructured the leadership of its Formula 1 team, appointing chief operating and technical officer Mattia Binotto to lead the project. Adam Baker stepped down as chief executive. Jonathan Wheatley remains team principal. Last year, the German automaker brought in the Qatar Investment Authority as a minority shareholder. Audi formally enters F1 in 2026, following its takeover of the Switzerland-based Sauber outfit.

• The Alpine F1 team principal Oliver Oakes resigned after less than a year since he was appointed. Executive adviser Flavio Briatore has assumed his responsibilities.

Final Whizz-bang

While the “fish hippies” of Bodø/Glimt were unable to overcome Tottenham Hotspur in this week’s Europa League semi final, they left no stone unturned. The night before the match, fans let off fireworks outside the Spurs team hotel in a bid to rob the players of sleep. While this is becoming a tradition now in football, Bodø’s version of it stands out. Why? Because at this time of the year, it’s already light at 2:37am in the Arctic Circle.