A Qatari fund has purchased a minority stake in Monumental Sports & Entertainment, according to a report from Sportico. Monumental is the parent company of the NBA’s Washington Wizards, NHL’s Washington Capitals and the WNBA’s Washington Mystics.
The Qatari Investment Authority will buy 5% of Monumental, per the report. The deal will value the company at roughly $4.05 billion and is another step toward foreign investment funds getting involved with professional sports in America.
In November 2022, the NBA approved a rule change that allowed sovereign wealth funds to purchase up to a 20% stake in teams. For now, those funds cannot become controlling owners, but their influence in the United States is growing quickly.
Monumental denied a request for comment from Reuters, and the QIA did not respond to the request.
Earlier this month, the PGA Tour dropped a bomb when it announced a merger with LIV Golf, which is the Saudi-backed league that poached numerous golfers with mammoth contracts. As a result of the merger, the PGA will get a sizable investment from the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund.
It will be interesting to see whether more major sports leagues follow suit by allowing sovereign wealth funds to get involved in team ownership.
