DALLAS & NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Arctos Sports Partners, a private investment platform dedicated to providing growth capital and liquidity solutions to professional sports franchise owners across the “Big 5” North American leagues and European soccer, today welcomed Chad Hutchinson as a Partner on the investment team and management committee.
“With tenacity and courage, Chad has built two incredible careers – one in professional sports and one in private equity,” said Arctos co-founder and Managing Partner Ian Charles. “He brings with him the experience and rigor of helping build and grow one of the private equity industry’s leading platforms as well as the unique perspective of a professional athlete in both baseball and football. His perspective and expertise around origination, operational value-add and pricing risk will add tremendous value to our organization and team as we accelerate our firm’s growth and portfolio build-out.”
Prior to joining Arctos, Hutchinson served as a managing director at Sixth Street (formerly TPG Sixth Street Partners) where he helped build the firm’s agricultural investment practice and led a number of investments in specialty finance, growth equity and structured solutions. Before his decade and a half career in finance, Hutchinson was a two-sport professional athlete serving both as a starting pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals and as the starting quarterback for both the Dallas Cowboys and the Chicago Bears.
“Our success is built on our ability to bring together investment professionals and operational professionals with a deep understanding of the business of professional sports. We are thrilled to have Chad. He is an incredible human being,” said co-founder and Managing Partner David “Doc” O’Connor. “On top of being a great cultural fit, Chad is a unicorn – one of only seven people on the planet since 1970 to play in both the NFL and MLB. I am guessing of those seven, he is the only one who also went on to build an incredible track record in private equity.”
Arctos helps unlock growth opportunities through its strategic partnerships with professional sports franchises and ownership groups. The firm provides growth capital, liquidity solutions and operational expertise to its franchise partners, thereby enabling franchises to expand their growth locally and in adjacent markets, including data analytics, real estate, fan engagement, digital innovation, sports betting, international markets and more.
“Arctos is at the forefront of a new market within the professional sports ecosystem,” said Chad Hutchinson, Partner at Arctos. “The introduction of institutional capital in professional sports has the potential to grow franchises and leagues while delivering strong returns to investors. Arctos is leading this nascent market, driving innovation and value across their investments. I look forward to working with Ian, Doc and the team to continue to evolve professional sports investment and ownership.”
About Arctos
Arctos Sports Partners works with innovative and visionary ownership groups and leagues across North American professional sports and European soccer. With offices in Dallas and New York, Arctos is led by its six-person partner group—which includes co-founders Ian Charles, David “Doc” O’Connor, Joseph Nasr and Jordan Solomon—and has a team of more than 25 investment and operational professionals. In addition to liquidity solutions and growth capital, Arctos’ portfolio franchises are able to leverage the deep industry knowledge and operational expertise of the firm’s 17 senior advisors, including Theo Epstein, to help drive additional value. Arctos recently closed on more than $3.0 billion in committed capital to its flagship fund and its affiliates. To date, Arctos has invested in more than a dozen sports franchises, and is poised to capitalize on expanding investment opportunities.
