Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE:APO) is close to completing a deal that would give it a 16% stake in the New York Yankees, according to a September 20 report in the New York Post, which put the valuation at more than $12 billion. The transaction is the $2.6 billion financing agreement Apollo announced with the team’s owners on August 11, its largest investment in US sports, according to Bloomberg, structured as a mix of credit and equity.
Under the terms described, Apollo would hold about 8% in common equity and another 8% in preferred stock that converts after four years. The Steinbrenner family would keep control with a little over 60%, and Hal Steinbrenner would remain managing general partner. Al Tylis of Apollo Sports Capital would join the board. Major League Baseball caps a single private equity fund at 15% of a team, and the Post reports the league is expected to waive that for this structure.
Why Apollo Wants the Yankees:
Apollo manages about $1.05 trillion and needs new places to put it at attractive returns. It set up Apollo Sports Capital a year ago to do exactly that. Sports teams offer what a pension fund or insurer wants. Media rights contracts lock in cash flow for years, the league caps how many teams exist, and franchise values have risen for two decades.
The structure suits Apollo’s model. The money goes in as a mix of credit and preferred stock, which pay a contractual return, and common equity that shares in any rise in the team’s value. A stake in the Yankees also opens doors across the league, and Tylis said on September 10 that the firm is interested in an NFL stake.
Whether this helps Apollo shareholders directly depends on how much of the money comes from the Apollo Sports Capital fund versus Apollo’s own balance sheet.
A Minority Stake at a Record Valuation With No Way Out:
The first problem is control. Apollo is paying a valuation the Post puts above $12 billion for a stake that carries no say over how the team is run. A minority stake can only be sold to a buyer the league approves, and a single board seat does not change who decides payroll or the next media deal.
The second is price. A valuation above $12 billion would be the highest ever put on a baseball team, well above the $9.4 billion Sportico assigned the Yankees in its rankings this year, and rests on media rights continuing to grow at a time when regional sports networks are failing and streaming services and broadcasters are fighting over live rights. If those rights are worth less in five years, so is the common equity, and the preferred only protects Apollo if the team can keep paying.
The third is the wider business. Apollo’s shares are down about 12% this year as investors worry about private credit, where Apollo earns most of its fees, after weak fundraising and rising redemptions. A stake this small next to a trillion dollars cannot move fee income, so it leaves that question where it was.
Conclusion:
Apollo’s Yankees deal gives the firm a foothold in an asset class with fixed supply and long contracts, in a structure that pays a contractual return while the family keeps control. However, the record valuation, the lack of control, and the uncertain future of media rights remain key concerns, and the deal is too small to change Apollo’s earnings picture.
Market Sentiment:
Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE:APO) was held by 77 hedge funds with a combined stake value of about $3 billion at the end of Q2 2026 in the Insider Monkey database. This is down from 81 hedge fund holders with a cumulative investment value of around $2.6 billion in the previous quarter.
READ NEXT: Oracle (ORCL) Cloud Revenue Jumps 121% and its Backlog Hits $664 Billion. Can it Actually Deliver? and GE Vernova’s (GEV) $200 Billion Backlog is Coming Sooner than Expected
This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
