It’s been a busy couple years for Rory McIlroy. The four-time major champ was basically working a side gig as the PGA Tour’s spokesperson for a stretch,
he announced—and then reversed—a divorce with his wife, and he’s continued to make major off-course business investments.
Oh yeah, he’s also kept his day job as one of the best golfers on the planet throughout.
McIlroy oversees a Dublin-based investment firm, Symphony Ventures. And his investments include being a co-founder (alongside Tiger Woods) of TMRW sports.
He also has equity in a bunch of other companies, including mini-golf chain puttery and digital tee time site GolfPass. The dude is a mover and a shaker.
Suffice it to say, McIlroy’s portfolio is a LOT more robust than anyone here at The Loop. So we would never question any of his business decisions.
About the only thing we’re qualified to comment on is that Symphony Ventures seems like a cool name.
But long-time sports business reporter Darren Rovell is questioning one recent move.
Front Office Sports reported that McIlroy’s Symphony Ventures teamed up with Brighton Park Capital to invest $250 million to aquire a majority stake of ticketing company TickPick, a rival of StubHub and SeatGeek. Apparently, if you run a secondary ticket marketplace, you need to combine two words into one and have a capital letter in the middle. We’re learning.
FOS doesn’t have the exact numbers, but says “Brighton is likely responsible for the lion’s share, with Symphony listed as a strategic investor.” OK then.
“This is a weird one,” Rovell tweeted. “You have $250M to put into something… You choose a secondary ticketing business that has less than 10% market share filled with disloyal consumers with shrinking margins?”
Again, Darren’s words, not ours. We barely understand what any of that means.
In any event, we wish Rory the best with his investment. All of his investments, that is.
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Source: USA Today
