Friedkin Forms Pursuit Sports to House Soccer Clubs, Hunt Big 4 Team
Friedkin, who also owns AS Cannes of France, will announce the formation of Pursuit Sports later Wednesday, naming former Clearlake and Fenway Sports Group executive Dave Beeston as Pursuit's CEO.
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'The intention has been to form a parent company that would do two things: provide operational excellence—amplify our operations for the clubs we own now—and evaluate opportunities to grow,' Beeston said on a video call. 'When I wake up I am thinking about how I am helping Roma, Everton, Cannes get to where they want to get to … and at the same time thinking about growing the company through acquisition.'
Growth seems to be top of mind for Friedkin. The billionaire was one of four finalists to buy the Boston Celtics this year and has held discussions with the NHL about bringing an expansion team to Houston. 'Truthfully, there's a focus on the next thing we do—in North America and not soccer would be my guess,' Beeston said. 'We are actively evaluating a few opportunities right now across the sports that you would think. Our focus in the short term and medium term is teams. Sports is the last must-see viewing opportunity. We want to be where the eyeballs are.'
The creation of Pursuit Sports formalizes the big-game hunting instincts of Friedkin. The 60-year-old businessman made his now $8.2 billion fortune on the strength of his family's Toyota dealership network, which he took over in 1995. Over time, Friedkin expanded into luxury resorts and golf courses, and got exposure to team sports though naming right deals that slapped the Toyota brand on the Houston Rockets arena and FC Dallas and San Antonio FC stadiums.
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The leap into team ownership came in 2020, when Friedkin, with children Ryan, Danny and Corbin, bought AS Roma for €591 million, or $701 million at the time. In 2023 they bought AS Cannes, once one of France's top clubs but long stuck in the country's fourth tier, for an undisclosed amount. Last year the family swooped in to buy Premier League club Everton for a reported price greater than $500 million after that club's failure to close a buyout by Miami's 777 Partners.
Friedkin hired Beeston in February to head what has now become Pursuit Sports. Beeston is best known for a 12-year run at Fenway Sports Group, where he rose to chief strategy officer, overseeing FSG's mergers & acquisitions efforts, including the purchase of the Pittsburgh Penguins. He left FSG to join Chelsea FC owner and private equity giant Clearlake Capital in August last year, but Boston-based Beeston missed operations work—and the commute to LA didn't help. A December meeting that ran to more than five hours of conversation with the Friedkin family led to the switch.
Beeston is quick to note that the formation of Pursuit Sports isn't to create a multi-club hierarchy where lower clubs feed players up to higher clubs. Club management and player decisions will remain separate from each other and led by the local executive slates. 'We're focusing on ways we can scale where appropriate,' Beeson said.
What might that look like? Beeston suggests the success of FSG could be a road map. 'One of the companies I oversaw by the end of my tenure was Fenway Sports Management, which was selling sponsorships for the Red Sox, NESN, Liverpool, Penguins, PGA Tour, Boston Common Golf. The more you can scale that, it doesn't sacrifice anything, because it drives incremental revenue.'
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One example: Submarine advocacy group BuildSubmarines.com expanded a high-profile Red Sox sponsorship across more FSG properties, looping in RFK Racing to brand a car for NASCAR's New Hampshire race last year, for instance.
Another operational benefit can come from sharing technical and strategic resources among clubs. Friedkin recently bought Insight Sport, a London soccer sports tech business that is the first non-team asset housed in Pursuit Sports. While Insight's purchase price isn't publicly disclosed, the business is very profitable, pulling in revenue of £332,500 ($445,000) last year, about half of which was net profit, according to a financial disclosure filed in the U.K.
Beeston declined to discuss potential purchases in NHL, NBA, NFL or MLB, other than to note the family probably prefers control stakes compared to limited partner interests. 'It would be silly to rule anything out, but our focus is more on areas we can control, because we intend to be the best operators,' he said, adding, 'We got to prove it still.'
Of course, it's not always simple: AS Roma fans protested the American ownership this past season after the club won just three of its first 14 matches, falling to 15th in the Serie A table before recovering to close the season in fifth place. Similarly, Everton seemed destined for relegation after a poor start to the Premier League before finishing 13th, two slots better than the season before Friedkin bought the club.
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'I don't know if I've ever seen fan bases pop champagne bottles for ownership groups, but if they begrudgingly say, 'These guys have been good for our club, they've backed up what they said they were going to do,' then that's a massive win for us,' Beeston said. 'These sports teams have souls you really need to nurture.'
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