Apollo Global Management has launched a dedicated sports investing platform, Apollo Sports Capital, appointing Al Tylis as chief executive officer to lead the firm’s push into the rapidly expanding sports finance sector, according to a report by Bloomberg.

The strategy will target credit and hybrid investment opportunities across sports franchises, venues, and events, leveraging structured lending and minority or majority stakes in teams. Sam Porter joins as chief strategy officer, while Apollo partners Rob Givone and Lee Solomon will serve as co-portfolio managers.

Tylis, a former real estate executive with prior sports investments including Mexico’s Club Necaxa, Colombia’s La Equidad, and the Brooklyn Pickleball Team, brings operational and investment expertise to the platform. Apollo Sports Capital is reportedly targeting $5bn in assets under management.

The launch underscores a growing trend of private equity and alternative asset managers entering the sports sector, with peers such as Ares, CVC Capital Partners, Arctos Partners, Elliott Management, and Oaktree Capital increasingly financing teams, leagues, and media rights deals. Avenue Capital Group also closed a sports fund earlier this year, raising over $1bn.

Apollo has already provided financing to sports teams and is exploring opportunities including a potential majority stake in Spanish football club Atlético de Madrid, as well as backing European football transfers and initiatives to monetise media rights in Mexico.

You can read more on this from Private Equity Wire, here.