Saudi Arabia is making its next big move in an ongoing effort to diversify its economy.

Savvy Games Group, owned in full by the country’s Public Investment Fund, is planning to invest $37.8 billion in gaming and esports with the goal of making the country a hub for gaming.

• The group is reportedly setting aside $13.3 billion to acquire “a leading game publisher to become a strategic development partner.”
• The investments will also include $18.6 billion in minority stakes.
• The country said that the strategy would establish 250 gaming companies in Saudi Arabia, create 39,000 jobs, and raise the sector’s GDP contribution to $13.3 billion.

The PIF, Saudi Arabia’s Sovereign Wealth fund, is no stranger to gaming investments. It holds a $2.9 billion stake in Activision Blizzard, a $1.9 billion stake in Electronic Arts, a $1.4 billion stake in Take-Two Interactive, and took a 5.01% stake in Nintendo in May, becoming its third-largest shareholder.

Courting Controversy

Saudi Arabia’s sports investments have caused tension between leagues and athletes who accept their funds and others who protest the country’s human rights record, including its backing of the war in Yemen and its murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. 

The PIF is also funding LIV Golf and is the majority owner of the Premier League club Newcastle.

Another Premier League team could find itself under American ownership.

Minnesota-based investor Maciek Kaminski is in advanced talks to purchase Everton, per the Financial Times. The talks gained steam over the past week, but a deal is not yet certain.

• The deal is believed to be for around $446.8 million.
• Kaminski heads Talon Real Estate, which owns a large number of properties in the Midwest and Great Plains.
• Kaminski was initially bidding with former Chelsea and Manchester United CEO Peter Kenyon, investment banker Michael Klein, and John Thornton, executive chair of U.S. mining company Barrick Gold. Kaminski has since split with that group.

The sale of the club, currently owned by Farhad Moshiri, is complicated by the tumbling British Pound, which has fallen around 20% compared to the U.S. dollar in the last 12 months.

American Money

With Todd Boehly’s purchase of Chelsea, nine of 20 Premier League clubs are owned primarily by Americans. 

One of those, Manchester United, could return to British ownership, should the Glazer family find someone to meet their reported $4.3 billion price tag. Britain’s richest man, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, and Michael Knighton have expressed interest in buying the club.

Arctos Sports Partners has been an owner of MLS’ Portland Timbers and the NWSL’s Thorns since last year, going essentially unreported — until this past Wednesday. 

The private equity firm and other investors who weren’t identified acquired a 15% stake at an enterprise value of $600 million.

A club spokesperson confirmed the deal to OregonLive.

PTFC, the Timbers’ and Thorns’ combined business, is now worth $685 million — eighth in MLS and an 8% increase from last year.

The stake was the first sold by owner Merritt Paulson.

• Paulson bought the Portland Beavers and the Portland Timbers in 2007. 
• In 2011, he paid $35 million to make the Timbers an MLS expansion club. 
• Two years later, the Thorns joined the NWSL.

Institutional investors can own up to 20% in a single MLS franchise, but a team cannot have more than 30% owned by funds. Arctos joined the ownership group of MLS’ Real Salt Lake in January.

Serious Decibels

While Arctos’ investment in the Portland soccer clubs was quiet, their presence in the industry is not.

In August, the firm announced its investment in the Utah Jazz through a deal with Smith Entertainment Group. 

It also recently purchased stakes in Philadelphia 76ers owner Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, the Golden State Warriors, and the Sacramento Kings, and has stakes in more than 20 professional sports groups and franchises.

Arctos was reportedly the first investment firm to offer private equity funding across MLB, MLS, the NBA, and the NHL.

Anaheim is once again at war with its own baseball team.

The city is anticipating a pair of lawsuits from the team regarding a planned fire station in the Angel Stadium parking lot. Angels’ attorney Allan Abshez has pushed back, saying the city lacks the authority to do so.

Abshez added that if the city does not cancel the contract for the station within 30 days, the team would consider Anaheim in default of its stadium lease and work to cancel its contract with the city.

The city owns the stadium and surrounding area — a fact that has caused ongoing legal tangles throughout the year.

• In 2019, the city agreed to sell Angel Stadium for $320 million as part of a 151-acre property to a company controlled by team owner Arte Moreno. The city was to receive $150 million in cash.
• Moreno’s company was to use $170 million in development credits to include affordable housing and parks as part of a development that would create homes, retail, restaurants, office space, and hotels.
• The deal fell apart amid allegations that then-mayor Harry Sidhu passed confidential information to the team on multiple occasions. Sidhu resigned as mayor effective May 24, 2022.
• Moreno is now in the process of selling the team.

New Vibe

The fire station in question was in part meant to accommodate a $4 billion planned development called ocV!be around the Honda Center, home to the Anaheim Ducks and half a mile from Angel Stadium.

The city council voted last week to approve the project, which is scheduled to open in 2024.