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- The Cynosure | Checketts Sports Capital fund has invested in Burnley owner ALK Capital
- Checketts praises leadership at PGA Tour and LIV Golf
- Investor “doesn’t understand” role of private equity in college sports
Former Utah Jazz and New York Knicks president Dave Checketts is targeting investments in golf and women’s sports with his US$1.2 billion private equity fund.
Checketts teamed up with The Cynosure Group last year to form The Cynosure | Checketts Sports Capital fund investment vehicle, based in New York and Salt Lake City, focusing on ‘high-potential sports opportunities’ around the world.
The joint venture made its first investment last year in ALK Capital, the owner of Burnley and Espanyol. Speaking at SportsPro New York, Checketts highlighted golf and women’s sports as areas he was looking at investing in next.
“Women’s sports especially, is a great place to invest, and that’s where we’re looking,” Checketts said. “We’re looking at golf, and there could not be two better commissioners with Brian Rolapp at the PGA Tour and Scott O’Neill in LIV Golf. Those are two of the smartest guys in sports.
“So, I will invest in golf, but scarcity value, good markets, good operators, minority stakes and people that will let us get involved and help them create the kind of culture where people do their best work.”
The PGA Tour and LIV Golf are each pursuing parallel strategies as talks on a merger continue to stall. A report last month noted Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) had spent a total of US$5.3 billion on LIV Golf, with chief executive Scott O’Neil conceding the circuit would be lossmaking for the next five to ten years.
Meanwhile, the PGA Tour’s most recent annual report reportedly valued the series at just over US$12.9 billion, following a US$1.5 billion investment made by the Strategic Sports Group (SSG) in 2024.
Outside of traditional golf, the indoor golf league TGL has also captured investor attention, with its owner TMRW Sports valued at around US$500 million after a Series A round in 2024. TMRW Sports, which is backed by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, also plans to launch a women’s edition of the competition, with WTGL to debut next winter. Alex Morgan’s Trybe Ventures has been named as the lead capital partner of the series.
Other high profile women’s disruptor properties include League One Volleyball (LOVB) and the Unrivaled three-on-three basketball competition. Established competitions like the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) and the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) have also become popular investor targets.
Checketts, who said he was aiming to buy “significant minority stakes in clubs with good operators”, also noted that college sports was a compelling sector to invest in. However, he conceded that he wasn’t sure if “it’s a place for institutional capital”.
“I think there’s a major culture clash between those two things,” Checketts explained. “How do you take a college sports program that has never generated much cash and make it worthy of generating 25 per cent returns for private equity?
“The answer is that you’re going to have to take everything and redo it. You’re going to have to build suites in these college football stadiums. You’re going to have to raise prices and the quality. But fans of those college teams, that’s not what they want. They love their school, they love their team and they’re not looking to pay US$1,000 for better hospitality. It’s just not what they’re looking for.
“Where private equity ends up in college sports is one of the great questions around and I would love to invest, and we have the capital to invest, but I don’t understand how that’s all going to play out.”
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