America's No. 1 financial conglomerate

Chapter 515 Sports Investment Circle

In a private room at a high-end bar in Boston, the moment Ernst pushed open the door, the slightly noisy conversation inside paused for a moment, and everyone's eyes turned to the door.

The private room was already packed with guests, and familiar or unfamiliar faces came into view. Ernst was not averse to interacting with these second-generation Boston residents.

"Changing clothes and taking a shower shouldn't take four hours, right?" As soon as he entered the room, a teasing voice came through clearly. Massim sat in the center of the sofa, winking and holding a glass of whiskey, with a mocking smile on his face.

He watched Ernst leave with the Kardashian sisters, so he knew without a doubt what the other party had gone through in those four hours.

Massim felt a little envious of the two sisters.

She wasn't particularly beautiful, but she was definitely considered a beauty.

The key is her striking figure; the image of Kim Kardashian bending over to get into the car is still vivid in my mind.

That exaggerated curve of her buttocks is something that most people can hardly reach in this position.

But once you get used to it, the feeling must be incredibly pleasant.

Despite Massim's teasing, Ernst showed no embarrassment. He calmly glanced around the room at everyone who was looking at him, then walked over to the empty seat next to Massim and sat down. Leaning back naturally against the sofa, he turned his head to look at Massim, a slight smile playing on his lips, and said in a playful tone, "Envious? If you're envious, then go ahead. I can give you the address."

Upon hearing this, Massim subconsciously clicked his tongue. Although he was indeed somewhat tempted deep down, he still pretended to be dismissive on the surface, slightly raising his chin and replying with a hint of defiance, "As if I can't find it."

A hint of a smile flashed in Ernst's eyes as he carefully looked Massim up and down. "You're not envious of me, are you?"

Seeing his gaze finally settle on his lower body, Massim really wanted to punch him. "Want to have a match?"

Ernst looked uninterested. "I don't bully children."

These words were like adding fuel to the fire. He clenched his fists tightly. "Annie, at this time..."

Ernst instantly changed his tune, picked up his wine glass, put his arm around the other man's shoulder, and his tone became enthusiastic: "Come on, let's have a drink. It's been a while since we've had a drink and chat like this."

After saying that, Ernst raised his glass, gestured to Massim, and drank the wine in one gulp.

He glanced around at the crowd again, his gaze lingering on the unfamiliar faces for a moment, and said to Massim, "Aren't you going to introduce me?"

Massim found Ernst's sudden change in demeanor quite amusing. He wanted to tell Ernst that Anne had changed a lot recently, but he swallowed the words back.

"Let me introduce you, this is Richie Henry, John's son," Massim said, pointing to a young man in a dark suit beside him.

John Henry, whom Ernst met at the stadium today, was one of the people who came to the stadium with Massim to watch the game.

The Henry family's journey began with sports investment. John Henry bought the Tucson Bulls baseball club in Arizona, marking his first foray into professional sports.

In the afternoon, he also heard that an agreement had been reached with the Florida Marlins of Major League Baseball to acquire them for $1.58 million, and only the official announcement was pending.

However, Ernst already knew about this family, mainly because in 10, when he led Fenway Sports Group to acquire Liverpool, there was a lot of information about this family online at the time.

Besides Liverpool, the family also acquired the Boston Red Sox and controls Fenway Sports Cars.

"Ross Hale." Massim beckoned, and a young man about Ernst's age came to his side. "The next leader of the Hale family."

The Hale family needs little introduction; they are well-known in the business and sports circles of Boston and throughout the United States.

As an important part of the Boston Consortium, the Hale family's strength should not be underestimated, with its main businesses covering three major areas: telecommunications, real estate, and sports.

One of the Celtics' largest shareholders is their family, who are also the owners of the Boston Cannons hockey team.

However, Massim's introduction is quite interesting; he is the next leading figure in the Hale family.

There have been persistent rumors that Rob Hale, the current head of the Hale family, is dissatisfied with his children, believing they lack sufficient business acumen and leadership skills to shoulder the responsibility of leading the family to further growth and expansion.

Judging from Ross Hale's age, he might not even be older than him, at most thirty years old, and should be Rob Hale's grandson.

Unexpectedly, Rob Hale really didn't consider the next generation and would skip his own children, directly passing on control of the family to the next generation.

This made Ernst take a second look at Ross Hale. Either his parents' generation was completely useless, or this young man, who was about his age, was indeed outstanding in every aspect.

Otherwise, with such an arrangement, after Rob Hale dies, the internal power struggle within the family will be fierce, and the entire Hale family may decline.

Whether it's a family-run or charitable foundation, the Hale family's wealth transfer will certainly follow a similar approach.

This method of wealth transfer implies the establishment of a top-level family committee.

The members of this committee could not all be younger than Ross Hale; they must all be of Ross Hale's father's generation.

If these people challenge his power, even if he manages the company, he will face significant difficulties.

"Jamie, I think you should know him by now."

Ernst followed Massim's gaze and saw a familiar face.

The two met this afternoon and had a brief conversation, mainly about the private equity firm's foray into the ice hockey industry.

His family, the Jacobs, has a significant influence in the hockey world. Their history in the hockey industry dates back to the founding of the National Hockey League (NHL). They were the founders of the Boston Bruins, one of the six founding teams of the NHL, and have controlled the operation of the team for many years.

Ralph wants to buy an ice hockey team, and I talked to him quite a bit today.

In addition to these individuals, Massim introduced several others, all of whom are investors with extensive experience in the sports industry.

In the American sports investment circle, the East Coast is undoubtedly the absolute core area.

On the East Coast, Boston and New York are the two largest sports investment hubs.

In the afternoon, Ernst talked about the newly formed team and the San Francisco Giants. Ralph also consulted Jamie about some things related to the hockey league.

It's obvious to anyone that Ernst Asset Management is making a large-scale investment in the sports sector.

Such frequent and large-scale entry into the sports investment market fully demonstrates Ernst and his company's high optimism about the future development prospects of the sports field.

Sports investment is one of the areas that the Boston Consortium is most familiar with and skilled in, so they were curious to know whether Ernst was only optimistic about the short-term development prospects of a few sports projects, or whether he had a longer-term and more ambitious strategic plan.

This whole situation was deliberately set up by the Boston Consortium to test their waters.

Ernst understood, but he came because he genuinely saw a lucrative business opportunity that would benefit him.

After everyone was seated, they first talked about the current state of the North American sports market.

"It has to be said that from a long-term investment perspective, the sports sector is a very stable investment choice, but how long this stable growth will last is anyone's guess."

Ernst glanced at Massim and chuckled, "Stop being so sarcastic and testing me; it won't do you any good."

Massim gave an awkward smile; he knew he wouldn't get the better of playing mind games with the other party.

"Alright then, I'll get straight to the point: MGM is planning to bid for the NFC broadcasting rights?"

The list of bidders for the NFC has been released, and MGM is prominently featured, which is no secret.

The results will be announced on the 25th. Who will win the right to distribute NFC for the next six years? The answer will be revealed soon.

What Massim really wanted to ask was how determined MGM was—was it just about participation, or were they absolutely determined to win?

Ernst didn't hide anything, took a sip of whiskey, and said casually, "24 billion US dollars, I don't think any TV station could afford that price, right?"

When Ernst's bid was revealed, many people in the VIP box stared wide-eyed.

Compared to CBS's previous 8-year, $16.8 billion contract, this contract is almost double, which is $400 million in broadcasting fees every year.

"You're that optimistic about the development of the sports industry in the next few years?" Massim hadn't expected MGM to offer such a high bid of $24 billion.

The surge in sports broadcasting rights was expected by everyone, not only for the NFC, but also for MLB, NBA, and other sports.

However, Wall Street estimates that the NFC broadcasting contract will be between $19 billion and $21 billion.

He hadn't expected MGM to offer $24 billion upfront, raising the price by that much.

"I can also tell you that MGM is determined to win the bid for MLB's broadcasting rights next year," Ernst dropped another bombshell.

However, this time, besides being surprised, everyone was mostly delighted.

The fact that Ernst Asset Management has invested in the sports sector indicates that Ernst is very optimistic about the future development of the sports industry.

That means that the investors of these teams will also benefit indirectly.

Both the revenue sharing from broadcasting and the growth in the number of fans are beneficial to them.