TPG, Rory McIlroy Collaborate on Sports Investing Business 

TPG has launched TPG Sports, a new investment platform focused on partnering with sports companies, teams, and leagues, in collaboration with professional golfer Rory McIlroy, his business partner Sean O’Flaherty, and their Symphony Ventures team. McIlroy and O’Flaherty will act as operating partners. 

TPG Sports will apply a private equity approach to sports investing, offering strategic capital and business-building expertise to scale sports intellectual property and operating businesses. The initiative has secured a major anchor investment from a vehicle managed by Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based alternative investment manager with over $110 billion in assets. 

“TPG Sports brings together the hallmarks of our investment style – our bespoke and long-term approach to partnerships, deep operating and business-building capabilities, and a multi-decade ecosystem of industry leaders like Rory and his team – to invest behind and grow businesses that are redefining the future of sports,” said Todd Sisitsky, president of TPG. 

McIlroy and O’Flaherty, who co-founded Golf Pass with NBC Sports and TGL (TMRW Golf League), bring extensive experience through Symphony Ventures, having invested in sports and wellness for nearly a decade. They have collaborated with TPG on investments like Troon Golf over the past six years. 

“The sports landscape is evolving in real time, and the ways we play, watch, and interact with sports are changing in exciting ways,” said McIlroy. “With TPG Sports, we have the capabilities, capital, and insights to invest behind and grow the businesses that are enabling this transformation.” 

Based in San Francisco, TPG manages $246 billion in assets, with investments including Creative Artists Agency, Entertainment Partners, DIRECTV, Dream11, Fandom, Musixmatch, Spotify, and Troon Golf.