Ackerley brothers, recent off Leeds United stake, launch new funding arm for sports activities and tech

Ted and Chris Ackerley are on the hunt for firms on the forefront of sports activities and media innovation.

The Seattle enterprise leaders lately introduced the Ackerley Sports activities Group (ASG), a brand new arm of their longtime funding agency Ackerley Companions.

ASG plans to put money into groups, leagues, and development stage firms.

The Ackerley brothers are part-owners of Seattle’s NHL franchise, the Seattle Kraken, which debuted two years in the past. And this 12 months they turned homeowners and companions of Leeds United Soccer Membership, a prime English soccer franchise that lately shifted majority possession to 49ers Enterprises, which owns the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers.

The Leeds funding is the primary out of ASG, the agency informed GeekWire.

We’ve documented the crossover between know-how and sports activities over time right here at GeekWire, and the intersection continues to evolve with the proliferation of AI, extra tech giants stepping into reside streaming, development of analytics, and way more.

Sports activities runs deep within the Ackerley household. Ted and Chris are the sons of the late Barry Ackerley, a Seattle businessman and founding father of The Ackerley Group media firm, which owned the NBA’s Seattle Supersonics for 18 years. Barry and Ginger Ackerley, his spouse, based the WNBA’s Seattle Storm in 2000.

The Ackerley brothers are additionally concerned in a particular function acquisition firm, or SPAC, referred to as ESH Acquisition Corp. that’s concentrating on an enterprise within the leisure, sports activities, and hospitality sectors. It closed an IPO in June, elevating $115 million.

Ackerley Companions shaped after The Ackerley Group offered to Clear Channel Communications in 2002 for greater than $800 million. The agency, now led by Ted and Chris, has backed varied Seattle tech startups along with different investments.