Drive to Survive backer buys stake in Hearns’ Matchroom empire
Bruin Capital, a backer of the maker of Drive to Survive and Bruno Fernandes’ agency, has bought a minority stake in multi-sport promoter Matchroom.
No terms were disclosed but the deal will see the Hearn family continue to majority own and run the business, which generates most of its revenue from boxing, darts and snooker.
It concludes years of flirting between Matchroom and institutional investors and comes just weeks after Saudi Arabia, the source of much new business in recent years, announced a retreat from some of its sports ventures.
New York-headquartered Bruin Capital has stakes in several sports-adjacent businesses, including documentary specialist Box to Box Films, maker of Formula 1 smash Drive to Survive.
It also has a shareholding in AS1, a football agency whose clients include Manchester United star Fernandes, Chelsea midfielder Moises Caicedo and Bayern Munich’s Luis Diaz, and FairPlay Sports Media, which owns the Oddschecker platform.
Matchroom founder Barry Hearn said: “We have built this business over more than 40 years by staying independent and focused on execution.
“In Bruin, we found a partner that understands how to grow sports businesses at scale and can help us take the next step without changing how we operate.”
Bruin’s investment will be used to drive growth, particularly in the US, a statement said.
“The opportunity for Matchroom in the United States and globally continues to grow,” said the promoter’s chairman Eddie Hearn.
“This partnership with Bruin gives us the ability to accelerate that expansion and build on the platform we have created.”
Bruin investment follows Saudi funding blow
Matchroom held talks with potential investors including CVC Capital Partners in recent years without being able to conclude a deal.
Box to Box Films was behind a Netflix docuseries about the Hearns’ business, Matchroom: The Greatest Showmen, last year.
“Barry, Eddie, and the Matchroom team have built one of the most important independent sports businesses in the world,” said Bruin founder and CEO George Pyne.
“Matchroom sits at the intersection of live events, global media rights, and premium sports intellectual property, and we see significant opportunities ahead, particularly in the United States.”
Matchroom’s growth in the last 20 years has come from boxing and, more recently, darts, with the former in particular benefiting from significant investment from Saudi entitites.
A strategic piviot by the Saudi Public Investnment Fund has caused uncertainty around the future of that funding and jeopardised PIF’s biggest sports venture, LIV Golf.
This year Matchroom has branched out into other sports, notably rugby union and MMA, by forming a talent agency and signing England’s Henry Pollock and Scotland’s Finn Russell.