(Bloomberg) -- Billionaire Marc Lasry’s Avenue Sports Fund has taken a minority stake in Trackhouse Entertainment Group, a motorsports company founded by former NASCAR driver Justin Marks.
Trackhouse Racing debuted in 2021 and has won seven NASCAR Cup Series races with drivers Daniel Suárez, Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen. Rapper Pitbull is also a shareholder after joining as a co-owner in 2021.
The parties declined to disclose the investment, only saying it’s “sizable.”
Investments into sports leagues and teams of all kinds have been on the rise in recent years, which has helped boost valuations. Avenue Sports, a fund launched in 2023 under Lasry’s Avenue Capital, recently made a investment in pickleball and was part of a consortium that bought SailGP’s US team.
Sports funds have sporadically invested in NASCAR teams. Fenway Sports Group bought a 50% stake in Roush Fenway Racing in 2007. Last year, Joe Gibbs Racing received investment from Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment and Arctos Partners. Lasry, who sold his 25% stake in the Milwaukee Bucks last year, said Avenue, which has about $12.5 billion under management, had been looking to invest in the motorsports for some time.
“We had quite a bit of opportunities to do work with other groups, but Justin was the only one who understood the business and also saw which way it was going to go,” Lasry, Avenue’s chief executive officer and co-founder, said in an interview.
The money from Avenue will be invested in several areas, including technology to boost performance on the track and fan engagement, Marks said.
Attracting a firm like Avenue “is a testament to the fact that motorsports is ripe for innovation, young leaders, aggressive brand development and new ideas on how to build a compelling business,” Marks said. “That has been our goal since day one.”
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