Self-professed New York Yankees fan LeBron James is set to become part owner of the rival Boston Red Sox, as well as several other sports properties, on top of his minority stake in Liverpool FC.
The Los Angeles Lakers star and his longtime business partner Maverick Carter will be buying into the Major League Baseball club’s parent company, Fenway Sports Group (FSG), at an undisclosed price.
Simultaneously, New York-based RedBird Capital is acquiring an 11 percent stake of FSG for $750 million.
DailyMail.com has since confirmed the agreements with a source familiar with the negotiations. The deal is subject to approval from MLB.
The Red Sox are reportedly worth an estimated $3.3 billion, according to Forbes, which ranked them third among all MLB teams in 2020.
Self-professed New York Yankees fan LeBron James (pictured, left, at a Yankees game in 2007) is set to become part owner of the Boston Red Sox, as well as several other sports properties, on top of his current 2 percent stake in Liverpool FC (right)
Boston – a city known to hate LeBron James’s Lakers and the Yankees, his favorite baseball team – will soon be welcoming the four-time NBA MVP as a new part owner of the Red Sox
In 2020, James (left) and Carter (right) announced the formation of a new media company, daftar situs judi bola resmi SpringHill, which is named for the Akron, Ohio apartment complex where James grew up until the sixth grade.
Werner is reportedly an investor as well
According to The Boston Globe, which originally reported the agreement, FSG will be worth an estimated $7.4 billion after the deal becomes official.
James already has more than a decade of experience working with FSG’s consulting and marketing arm, FSM, and in 2011, he paid $6.5 million for a 2 percent stake in FSG-controlled Liverpool FC.
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Now James, Carter and RedBird Capital will also have a minority stake of Roush Fenway Racing, Boston-area sports network NESN, Fenway Sports Management and FSG Real Estate.
Carter and James will become the first African-American figures at FSG, which is currently controlled by Red Sox principal owner John Henry, chairman Tom Werner, and FSG president Michael Gordon. Henry also owns The Boston Globe.
With its investment from RedBird Capital and James’s notoriety, FSG is hoping that it can pursue other sports properties, such as NHL or WNBA franchises, according to the Boston Globe.
Fenway Sports Group principal owner John Henry (left) and chairman Tom Werner (right) stand alongside Liverpool FC coach Jurgen Klopp during a 2016 photoshoot in England
James is now the minority owner of Roush Fenway Racing, one of the top NASCAR teams
LeBron James bought a 2 percent stake in Liverpool FC for $6.5 million in 2011
James’s baseball fandom has been somewhat fluid over the years.
The Akron, Ohio native has claimed to be both an Indians and a Yankees supporter on several occasions. He is friends with former MLB pitcher CC Sabathia, who pitched for both Cleveland and New York.
For James and Carter, the new agreement is another in a series of investments.
In 2020, the pair announced the formation of a new media company, SpringHill, which is named for the Akron, Ohio apartment complex where James grew up until the sixth grade.
Werner is reportedly an investor as well.
That company is reportedly working with Netflix on a basketball movie involving Adam Sandler.
James and Carter are also producing an upcoming game show on NBC and a sequel to Michael Jordan‘s movie, Space Jam.
Like James, Carter played football and basketball at Akron’s St.
Vincent-St. Mary High School.
He attended Western Michigan, where he briefly played basketball, before transferring to the University of Akron.