- Dave Checketts and Cynosure Group aim to raise $1.2 billion for sports-related investments.
- Checketts and the Eccles family have longstanding relationship and connection to Utah sports.
- Live sports revenues are expected to reach nearly $900 billion in the next decade.
A full-circle moment, perhaps, was christened Monday when pro sports veteran and Utah native Dave Checketts and the Eccles family private investment firm Cynosure Group launched Cynosure|Checketts Sports Capital, a joint venture aiming to raise $1.2 billion to back “high-potential sports opportunities.
Checketts and the Eccles family can trace their connection back to the advent of big-time professional sports in Utah. Spencer F. Eccles, then CEO and chairman of First Security Corporation, helped Larry H. Miller secure funding in 1985 to keep the Jazz in Utah in a deal that eventually led to Miller acquiring full ownership of the team.
At the time, Checketts was two years into his first pro sports gig with the Jazz, having become the youngest-ever NBA team president in 1983 at the age of 28.
A shared history of success
The ensuing decades saw the Eccles family support a myriad of sports venues and programs through their philanthropic arm and help bring the 2002 Winter Games to Salt Lake City as Checketts built a wide-ranging career as a top sports executive and investor. His tenure as Jazz president/CEO ran through 1990 before he moved on to take over as the New York Knicks chief executive and later became the president/CEO of Madison Square Garden from 1994-2001.
Along the way he founded the New York Liberty, one of the original WNBA franchises, and founded Real Salt Lake, Utah’s first Major League Soccer franchise. In 2005, the same year RSL began play, Checketts bought the NHL’s St. Louis Blues. Under Checketts’ leadership, RSL claimed its first (and so far, only) championship in 2009 when the team defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy to win the MLS Cup.
Cynosure|Checketts Sports Capital says it already has deals in the pipeline and will be targeting investments across multiple segments of the sports industry, including:
- Professional and collegiate sports teams
- Sports leagues and governing bodies
- Stadiums, arenas and other sports facilities
- Sports technology and innovation companies
- Media rights and broadcasting ventures
“This partnership is a dream come true for me, reuniting me with the Eccles family, who were key in keeping the Jazz in Salt Lake City, bringing the Olympic Winter Games to Utah in 2002 and building tremendous intercollegiate athletic programs in the state,” Checketts said. “By joining forces today with The Cynosure Group, we are creating a powerhouse entity with assets that will make us competitive on a global scale and will give us great opportunities to help shape the future of the industry right away.”
Last chapter of a storied career
In a Deseret News interview, Checketts said the idea to start a sports-focused investment fund has been on his mind since he and his wife completed a mission in London for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 2021.
“When I came home I was close enough to retirement age that I started thinking about what the last chapter of my career in sports was going to look like,” he said. “I wanted to raise a significant fund and go after interesting investments in sport, but not just franchises, other assets in this industry.”
The last six years has evolved into a watershed moment for private equity investment opportunities in sports. From 2019 to 2024, all five major North American sports leagues have opened their doors to private investment and the business of live sports is booming.
According to a report from Buyouts, global sports revenues hit $463 billion in 2024 and are expected to reach $863 billion by 2033.
“Investments in the sports ecosystem have increased in recent years due to rising franchise valuations and media rights packages, emerging revenue streams like sponsorship, merchandising and gaming and the digitization of distribution,” Scott Marimow, Providence Equity Partners, told Buyouts.
A family that helped the ‘state of sport’
Spencer P. Eccles, managing partner and co-founder of The Cynosure Group and former executive director of the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development, noted in a Deseret News interview that the relationship between his family and Checketts goes back nearly five decades and the shared approach to business ventures makes for a natural fit.
“We’re bringing together two powerhouses with a shared vision, business acuity and track record of successes,” Eccles said. “We knew if we were ever going to partner Cynosure and the Eccles family with an effort in the sports space, it would be with Dave Checketts.”
Eccles noted his family’s connection with sports, both in personal pursuits and financial support, goes back generations and focuses on “building individuals, building communities and building the state.”
Randal Quarles, chairman of The Cynosure Group and former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, noted the sports investment realm is rife with both opportunity and earnings potential.
“Sports represents a unique asset class with tremendous growth potential,” Quarles said in a statement. “By partnering with Dave Checketts, whose expertise in building value across multiple sports properties is unmatched, we are positioning ourselves to capitalize on the most compelling opportunities in this dynamic market.”
