December 5 – Mexico’s LigaMX clubs are set to vote on a $1.25 billion proposal to sell a stake in their commercial rights to private equity giant Apollo Global Management with deal also including participation from the NFL.
Sportico reports it has seen a letter sent from Mexican FA (FMF) president Juan Carlos Rodríguez to club owners in which he says the proposal could be the “largest transformation project” in the history of Mexican football.
The investment would be into the creation of a new company – La Comercializadora – to hold and market all LigaMX’s broadcast and sponsorship rights, included the pooled rights of the clubs.
NFL participation would likely be through its investment business NFL Enterprises which has become increasingly interested in soccer and owns a stake in Leeds United, currently on course for a return to the Premier League.
The terms of the deal haven’t been disclosed, but it isn’t the first time that the proposal has been brought to LigaMX clubs. In 2022 Apollo made a similar proposal, then seeking 20% of the profits from LigaMX’s non-Mexican media rights over the next 50 years.
LigaMX clubs hold the rights to their own commercial partnerships outside Mexico, including broadcast. That allows the bigger clubs like Chivas and Club America to sell into the US market which has more than 36 million people of Mexican descent.
The separation of commercial rights into new entities that have private equity shareholding has seen Spain’s LaLiga raise $2.4 billion from CVC who also acquired a 13% stake worth €1.5 billion in LFPs newly created media rights business company in 2022.
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