What’s behind Apollo, the American investment fund that bought Atlético de Madrid

Apollo Sports Capital has become the main shareholder of Atlético de Madrid after acquiring the majority of the capital in an operation publicly announced this Monday. The firm is a subsidiary of Apollo, an American alternative asset investment fund that manages a portfolio of around $908 billion (specifically).

The operation – which came to the fore in mid-September – represents a complete shake-up for the Spanish football league and one more step in the financialization of sportwhich is becoming an object of desire for the world’s largest asset managers.

Although there are already foreign investment funds in national football (for example, VSP in the ownership of Espanyol) never before in the history of the competition has a club been left in the hands of a company as large as Apollo. Something that in competitions like the Premier League it is starting to become more and more common (Bournemouth, Burnley, Chelsea have investment funds in their ownership).

Apollo has already invested $17 billion in assets linked to the world of sportsranging from sports and entertainment companies to media rights and stadium and league financing. Two of the most famous are participations in the Mutua Madrid Open or the Miami Open tennis. In the world of football, a loan to Nottingham Forest (Premier League) of £80 million over three years stands out, with a high interest rate of 8.75%. The British club provided its stadium, among other assets, as collateral for the operation.

In the case of Atlético, Apollo enters directly into the club’s property, which makes this investment the “flagship” of the fund’s sports portfolio, which assures that it has no intention of creating a timeshare structure for football clubs (a la the City Group that controls Manchester City, Girona, Troyes or Palermo).

The New York-based multinational will keep Miguel Ángel Gil (CEO) and Enrique Cerezo (president) on the board and will provide key financing so that the club can carry out its ambitious project of building a sports city around its stadium. Your idea is a long-term project, in which to invest both in the equipment and in large infrastructures.

Booming market

The arrival of the large asset managers in football comes at a time when the market is booming. It is increasingly common to see transfers of players that exceed or reach 100 million and investment funds see that they can make a profit. Funds offer quick money, but at often high interest rates and they go where traditional investors do not dare due to the risks intrinsic to sport (irregular seasons, division relegations, injuries…).

Asset managers like Apollo They see in football a growing vein where they can achieve benefits. Operations such as the 500 million with which Ares (also a shareholder of Atlético de Madrid) financed Chelsea in 2023 or the 100 million with which PGIM refinanced Wolverhampton’s debt are a good example of this.

In Spanish football, perhaps the best known case is that of CVC fundwhich took over 8.25% of LaLiga’s broadcasting rights for the next 50 years in exchange for an investment of 2.1 billion dollars. Funds that clubs can allocate to improve infrastructure, international development and, to a lesser extent, to reduce debts or expand salary limits.