Ari Emanuel has launched Mari, a new holding company that will include global events and experiences such as Frieze and IMG’s portfolio of tennis events including the Miami Open and Madrid Open, as well as a majority stake in automotive auction house Barrett-Jackson.
In addition to the Madrid and Miami Open tournaments, IMG’s tennis portfolio includes the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open, Mubadala Citi DC Open and SP Open, as well as high-profile exhibitions such as Giorgio Armani Tennis Classic and MGM Macau Tennis Masters and the management of major ATP tournaments including the Chengdu Open, Hong Kong Open, Japan Open, and Rio Open.
Mari is backed by $2 billion in funding from a group of investors including funds managed by Apollo, RedBird Capital Partners, Qatar Investment Authority, HSG, IMI media group, Ares Management funds, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, a16z Growth, Nancy Zhang, FORTA Advisors, Main Street Advisors, Causeway Media Partners, Gannet Capital, Eric Schmidt, FMZ Ventures, Sideline Group, Curated Wealth Partners, Gaurav Kapadia, Bulat Utemuratov and Sanjay Govil. It also includes sports superstars Luka Dončić, Anthony Edwards and Sabrina Ionescu.
Also joining the consortium as principal investors for the Miami Open acquisition is the ownership group behind the Miami Dolphins, Hard Rock Stadium, and the Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix, which includes majority owner Stephen Ross, Joe Tsai, Oliver Weisberg and funds managed by Ares Management. Since 2019, the Miami Open has been hosted at Hard Rock Stadium.
The launch of Mari comes after Endeavor Group Holdings began exploring a potential sale of the Miami and Madrid Opens and Frieze in October 2024. Emanuel would acquire Frieze for an undisclosed amount in May, while the acquisition of the tennis tournaments is included as part of Mari’s official launch.
Endeavor has since been taken private by Silver Lake in a $25 billion deal, in which Emanuel scored a $174 million cash payout.
Separately, Emanuel helped back a $450 million management buyout of OpenBet and IMG Arena to OB Global Holdings LLC. TKO also acquired On Location, Professional Bull Riders, and IMG for $3.25 billion. The latter deal does not include businesses associated with the IMG brand in licensing, models and tennis and golf representation, nor IMG’s full events portfolio.
Former Endeavor executive chairman Patrick Whitesell also acquired the football division WME Sports, which is part of his new company WIN Sports Group launched in May.
In addition to Emanuel, Mark Shapiro, who is Emanuel’s partner at WME and TKO, will be a principal investor and board member, while Matt Cohn will be a managing partner and Ben Enowitz will be CFO. Barrett-Jackson founder and CEO Craig Jackson will also remain in his role.
“Live events and experiences have never been more powerful,” Emanuel said in a statement. “As people increasingly value experiences over things—and as hybrid work and AI give us more time to enjoy them—sports, art, lifestyle, and entertainment are becoming even more essential. At MARI, we’re building on the global impact of Frieze and the success of the Madrid and Miami Opens to create new ways for audiences to come together and share their passions.”
“We are excited to be a key partner to Ariel Emanuel, Mark Shapiro, and their team as they build out a portfolio of experiential assets in the sports and live events industries—two key areas where our firm sees strong, continued growth,” Apollo partner Rob Givone said. “Apollo Sports Capital will work closely with the MARI team to help unlock value across the existing asset base, as well as explore additional opportunities in live events and experiences.”
“RedBird has enjoyed a multi-decade partnership with Ari and Mark, and we are excited to join them again in creating MARI,” RedBird Capital Partners founder and managing partner Gerry Cardinale said. “Anchored by the iconic Miami and Madrid Tennis Opens and Frieze, MARI is well positioned from inception to capitalize on the secular growth and convergence of premium intellectual property across Sports and Live Event Entertainment—areas where RedBird brings domain leadership and business building expertise.”
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP acted as legal adviser and Goldman Sachs & Co. and LionTree Advisors LLC acted as financial advisors to Mari in connection with the transaction.
