Apollo Set to Take 8% Stake in Yankee Global Enterprises at $12B-Plus Valuation

Apollo Sports Capital is closing in on an eight percent minority stake in Yankee Global Enterprises, the parent company of the New York Yankees, in a deal that reportedly values YGE at more than $12 billion — a figure that would make the Yankees the most valuable franchise in baseball history.

The transaction builds on a previously disclosed $2.6 billion financing injection from Apollo that combined debt and equity, according to people familiar with the matter cited by Sportico. As part of that structure, the Steinbrenner family and some limited partners are selling at least four percent of their existing shares, with Apollo also set to receive preferred shares that convert into a further eight percent of equity by 2030, according to reporting from City A.M.

The Steinbrenner family, MLB's longest-tenured ownership group, will remain in full control of YGE. George Steinbrenner bought the Yankees in 1973 for $8.8 million; his children have run the franchise since his death in 2010. The family's stake sale marks one of the most significant ownership shifts at the club in more than five decades, even as it retains control.

Apollo Sports Capital chief executive Al Tylis is joining YGE's board in a newly created seat, giving the private equity firm direct governance input at a company that also holds Serie A side AC Milan, MLS's New York City FC, hospitality group Legends, and the YES Network.

The deal extends Apollo's rapid build-out of a global sports portfolio. The firm's roughly $6 billion sports fund, launched last year, has already taken control of Atlético Madrid at a $2.55 billion valuation, alongside minority stakes in Wrexham AFC and investments in the Madrid and Miami Open tennis tournaments. Apollo manages $1.05 trillion in assets as of June 30.

The Yankees investment would give Apollo simultaneous economic exposure to MLB, Serie A, MLS, LaLiga and the ATP/WTA tour calendar — an unusually broad cross-sport footprint for a single PE sponsor, and one that raises fresh questions about how leagues police cross-ownership conflicts as institutional capital spreads across competing properties.

The move also lands just months after MLB quietly raised its private equity ownership limit, a change first reported by Sports Business Journal, giving funds more room to take larger positions in clubs without triggering control restrictions. That regulatory loosening is central to why deals of this size are now moving through MLB's approval process at all.

For the Yankees, the capital injection provides liquidity to family and LP stakeholders without ceding control — a structure increasingly common as legacy owners seek to monetize illiquid, highly appreciated franchises while avoiding a full sale. It also arrives as MLB franchise values continue to outpace broader asset classes, pressuring other ownership groups to consider similar minority-stake deals rather than outright sales.

Neither the Yankees nor Apollo has commented publicly on the Steinbrenner family's share sale. If finalized at the reported terms, the deal would stand as one of the largest PE transactions in North American major league sports history, and a template other legacy-owned franchises may look to replicate.