David Blitzer | |
---|---|
Born | David Scott Blitzer September 7, 1969 |
Education | Wharton School (BS, 1991) |
Occupations |
|
Employer | Blackstone (1991–present) |
Organizations |
|
Known for | First to own team equity in the five major sports leagues of North America |
Title |
|
Board member of | |
Spouse | Allison Ross |
Children | 5 |
David Scott Blitzer (born September 7, 1969) is an American investor and sports team owner. He is a senior executive at the private equity firm Blackstone and co-managing partner of the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers and NHL's New Jersey Devils. A native of New Jersey, he graduated from Penn's Wharton School and joined Blackstone in 1991. Blitzer and Apollo Global Management co-founder Josh Harris are frequent business partners, with the pair establishing Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment in 2017.
Blitzer is also an owner or significant shareholder of several association football clubs, including Crystal Palace, G.D. Estoril Praia, AD Alcorcón, S.K. Beveren, ADO Den Haag, Real Salt Lake, Brøndby IF, and the Utah Royals. He also owns 25% of the MLB's Cleveland Guardians and a minority stake in the NFL's Washington Commanders, making him the first person to own team equity in the five major sports leagues of North America. Blitzer's net worth is estimated to be $2 billion.
Blitzer was born on September 7, 1969, in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. He graduated from Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School in 1987 and graduated magna cum laude from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1991. [1] Blitzer joined the private equity firm Blackstone shortly after graduation and worked out of London from 2001 to 2011 to oversee the company's interests in Europe. [2] He is a member of their management committee and heads their global Tactical Opportunities group. [3] [4]
Blitzer began contemplating investing in sports after meeting Apollo Global Management co-founder Josh Harris in 2008 at The Punchbowl, a pub in London. [5] By 2011, those talks led to the pair forming an investment group that purchased the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) for $280 million. [6] [7] Other initial members of the group included Art Wrubel, Jason Levien, Adam Aron, Martin Geller, David Heller, James Lassiter, Marc Leder, Michael Rubin, Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Erick Thohir. [8] [9] In August 2013, Blitzer and Harris purchased the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL) and their arena, the Prudential Center, for $320 million. [10] Blitzer and investor David Abrams headed a group that owned 50% of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees, from 2014 until selling to Diamond Baseball Holdings in 2021. [11] [12]
Blitzer co-founded Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment with Harris in 2017. In addition to the 76ers and Devils, the company also owns the NBA G League's Delaware Blue Coats, the American Hockey League's Utica Comets, esports team Dignitas of New Meta Entertainment, [13] [14] HBSE Real Estate, sports tech venture capital firm HBSE Ventures, [15] and marketing, hospitality, and event ticketing company Elevate Sports Ventures. [16] In January 2022, Blitzer and Qualtrics co-founder Ryan Smith purchased Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer (MLS) and America First Field, which included the affiliated Real Monarchs and Zions Bank Stadium. [17] [18] The pair also reestablished the Utah Royals of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), which had gone defunct in 2020 and became the Kansas City Current. [19] He purchased a 25 percent stake in the MLB's Cleveland Guardians in June 2022, with an option to acquire controlling interest in 2028. [20] [21] Blitzer is the first person to hold team equity in the five major sports leagues of North America: the NBA, NHL, NFL, MLS, and MLB. [22]
Blitzer purchased an 18% stake in the English football club Crystal Palace in 2015. [23] [24] He later formed Global Football Holdings, which has invested in G.D. Estoril Praia (Portugal), [25] AD Alcorcón (Spain), [26] S.K. Beveren (Belgium), [27] FC Augsburg (Germany), [28] ADO Den Haag (Netherlands), [25] and Brøndby IF (Denmark). [29] In 2020, Blitzer and Harris bought a $140 million stake in the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). [30] In 2023, he was a part of another group led by Harris that purchased the NFL's Washington Commanders for $6.05 billion, the highest price ever for a sports team. [31] [32] The same year, Blitzer invested in the return of SlamBall, a basketball league combining elements of other sports, [33] and bought a minority stake in Joe Gibbs Racing by way of HBSE in 2023. [34] He was named to the NHL's Executive Committee in October 2023, which is responsible for vetting new ownership applications, collective bargaining, and league expansion. [35] Blitzer and professional golfer Tiger Woods are owners of the Jupiter Links Golf Club of the virtual golf league TGL, founded in 2023. [36] He is a member of College Sports Tomorrow, a group formed in 2024 consisting of 20 pro team owners, league executives, and college administrators proposing an overhaul to college football, including abolishing conferences and reorganizing Power Five schools in seven divisions of ten each with a system of promotion and relegation for the rest, in addition to changes to NIL deals and the transfer portal. [37]
Blitzer and Harris have also invested in youth sports, forming the parent company Unrivaled Sports in March 2024 with an investment from The Chernin Group. [38] Assets owned include All Star Village, a youth baseball brand founded by MLB Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr., [39] We Are Camp, an Oregon-based sports camp operator managed in partnership with snowboarder and Olympic gold medalist Shaun White, [40] the ForeverLawn Sports Complex at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, [41] YTH Sports, a soccer event organizer, [42] and Diamond Nation, a baseball and softball facility in Flemington, New Jersey. [43]
Team | League | Year | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Philadelphia 76ers | National Basketball Association | 2011 | Managing partner with Josh Harris. Includes the Delaware Blue Coats of the NBA G League. |
New Jersey Devils | National Hockey Association | 2013 | Managing partner with Josh Harris. Includes the Prudential Center and the Utica Comets of the American Hockey League. |
Joe Gibbs Racing | NASCAR | 2023 | Limited partner with Josh Harris |
Team | League | Year | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
G.D. Estoril Praia | Primeira Liga | 2019 | Owner |
AD Alcorcón | La Liga 2 | Owner | |
S.K. Beveren | Challenger Pro League | 2020 | Co-owner with Jahm Najafi and Jeff Moorad |
FC Augsburg | Bundesliga | 2021 | Co-owner with Klaus Hofmann; 45% stake |
ADO Den Haag | Eerste Divisie | Owner | |
Brøndby IF | Danish Superliga | 2022 | Owner |
Team | League | Year | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders | International League | 2014 | 50% stake with David Abrams. Sold to Diamond Baseball Holdings in 2021. |
Crystal Palace F.C. | Premier League | 2015 | General partner with Steve Parish, John Textor, and Josh Harris; 18% stake |
Real Salt Lake | Major League Soccer | 2022 | Co-owner with Ryan Smith. Includes America First Field, Zions Bank Stadium, and the Real Monarchs of MLS Next Pro. |
Cleveland Guardians | Major League Baseball | Limited partner; 25% stake with the option to become majority owner in 2028 | |
Utah Royals | National Women's Soccer League | 2023 | Co-owner with Ryan Smith |
Washington Commanders | National Football League | Limited partner under Josh Harris | |
Jupiter Links Golf Club | TGL | Co-owner with Tiger Woods |
Blitzer is Jewish. [44] He is married to Allison (née Ross) Blitzer; they have five children. [45] His net worth was estimated by Forbes in November 2023 to be $2.2 billion. [46] Blitzer's father-in-law, Stuart Ross, who once owned the North American rights to The Smurfs franchise, was convicted of extortion in 2010 and sentenced to five years of probation after trying to extort $11 million from Blitzer. [47] [48]
Blitzer founded the Blitzer Family Foundation in 2014. [1] He is on the board of trustees of Mount Sinai Health System and Wharton School and is a donor to Hillel International, an organization helping Jewish students. [49] He participated in sports business panels hosted by the Wharton School in 2019 and Sportico in 2022. [50] [51]
Blackstone Inc. is an American alternative investment management company based in New York City. Blackstone's private equity business has been one of the largest investors in leveraged buyouts in the last three decades, while its real estate business has actively acquired commercial real estate. Blackstone is also active in credit, infrastructure, hedge funds, insurance, secondaries, and growth equity. As of June 2023, the company's total assets under management were approximately US$1 trillion, making it the largest alternative investment firm globally.
Jeffrey S. Moorad is an American businessman and investor. He began his career as a sports agent, before serving as General Partner and CEO of MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks, and Vice-Chairman and CEO of MLB's San Diego Padres.
Dignitas is an American esports organization based in Newark, New Jersey. It was founded by Michael "ODEE" O'Dell in 2003 as a merger of two Battlefield 1942 clans. Dignitas was acquired by the Philadelphia 76ers in 2016 and is now a part of parent company Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE). The team is best known for its League of Legends, Rocket League, Fortnite, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive squads.
Penske Media Corporation is an American mass media, publishing, and information services company based in Los Angeles and New York City. It publishes more than 20 digital and print brands, including Variety, Rolling Stone, Women's Wear Daily, Deadline Hollywood, Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Boy Genius Report, Robb Report, Artforum, ARTNews, and others. PMC's Chairman and CEO since founding is Jay Penske.
Michael Gary Rubin is an American businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder and CEO of Fanatics, a global digital sports platform that consists of several businesses, including licensed sports merchandise, trading cards and collectibles, sports betting and iGaming, special events, and live commerce. He is also a board member of Rue Gilt Groupe, which includes RueLaLa.com, Gilt.com, and ShopPremiumOutlets.com. He previously founded GSI Commerce in 1998, selling it to eBay in 2011 for $2.4 billion.
Erick Thohir is an Indonesian businessman and politician who has served as Indonesia's Minister of State Owned Enterprises since 2019 and chairman of Football Association of Indonesia since 2023. He is the founder of Mahaka Group, a conglomeration that focuses on media, sports and entertainment. Globally known as the former owner and chairman of Italian football giant Inter Milan and US soccer club D.C. United, Thohir is currently co-owner alongside Anindya Bakrie of English League One team Oxford United and Liga 1 team Persis Solo along with Kaesang Pangarep, the youngest son of President Joko Widodo. He was also the president director of ANTV television station and the chief of the Indonesian Olympic Committee. In 2019, he became a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Thohir is also currently a member of the FIBA Central Board.
Marc J. Leder is an American businessman and philanthropist who co-founded Sun Capital Partners, a private equity firm based in Boca Raton, Florida. He is also a limited partner of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, which owns the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers and the NHL's New Jersey Devils, and the Josh Harris Group, which owns Real Salt Lake of the MLS, the English Premier League's Crystal Palace F.C., and the NFL's Washington Commanders.
Joshua Jordan Harris is an American investor, sports team owner, and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of the private equity firm Apollo Global Management and a managing partner of the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers, the NHL's New Jersey Devils, and the NFL's Washington Commanders. Harris is also a general partner of the English football club Crystal Palace and owns a minority stake in Joe Gibbs Racing. He has an estimated net worth of around US$9 billion.
Fanatics, Inc. is an American manufacturer and online retailer of licensed sportswear for the MLB, MLS, NBA, NCAA, NFL, NHL, NASCAR, Formula 1, WWE and NPB. They sell sports collectibles, Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), trading cards, and sports merchandise, as well as sports betting and iGaming. The company began as an American online retailer of licensed sportswear and merchandise, which operates the e-commerce businesses of major professional sports leagues and media brands, as well as hundreds of collegiate and professional team properties.
The Race Team Alliance (RTA) is a 501(c)(6) organization based in Charlotte, North Carolina, founded by businessman and former NASCAR team stakeholder Rob Kauffman. The organization currently consists of 15 NASCAR Cup Series teams and is led by Jonathan Marshall. The organization negotiates with NASCAR on major topics within the league on behalf of NASCAR race teams in said topics, including the implementation of the charter system and negotiating media rights deals. The organization within recent years has also overseen expansion, including the purchase of a motorsports news site along with a now-defunct NASCAR esports league.
Hugh Weber is an American sports executive who has served as the president of business operations for Seattle Sounders FC since 2023. He previously served as president of the New Jersey Devils and its parent company Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE) from 2013 to 2022. He previously served in the same position for the NBA's New Orleans Hornets. A native of Tacoma, Washington, Weber graduated from the University of Puget Sound, where he was also a member of their track team.
Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment LLC (HBSE) is an American sports and venue management company founded by investors Josh Harris and David Blitzer in September 2017. HBSE owns and operates the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL), as well as other properties such as their minor league affiliates, the Prudential Center, and the esports organization Dignitas. HBSE also holds a minority stake in the NASCAR team Joe Gibbs Racing. The company is headquartered in Camden, New Jersey, and was valued at $11.86 billion in 2024.
TCG Capital Management, LP, doing business as TCG or The Chernin Group, is an American investment advisory firm focused on private equity investments in the media, entertainment, technology, sports and consumer and digital media sectors.
David J. Adelman is an American businessman and entrepreneur. He is the CEO of Campus Apartments, the Co-Founder and Vice Chairman of FS Investments, and the Founder of Darco Capital Chair. Adelman is also a limited partner of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, which owns and operates the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils. His net worth was estimated by Forbes to be $2 billion in May 2023.
Diamond Sports Group LLC is an American media and entertainment company operating as a subsidiary of Sinclair Broadcast Group, and partnered with Allen Media Group. The company operates Bally Sports, a group of regional sports channels that was formerly known as the Fox Sports Networks.
S. Ryan Smith is an American billionaire businessman. He is the executive chairman and co-founder of Qualtrics, an experience management company based in Provo, Utah. Smith is also owner of the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and co-owner of Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer (MLS) with sports investor David Blitzer.
The Bally Sports Regional Networks are a group of regional sports networks in the United States owned by Diamond Sports Group, a joint-venture company of the Sinclair Broadcast Group and Allen Media Group. The naming rights to the network were sold to casino operator Bally's Corporation.
Thaddeus Brown is an American sports executive who is the chief executive officer (CEO) of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, which includes the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL). He formerly served as CEO of the NBA's Houston Rockets and the Toyota Center.
76 Place at Market East is a proposed indoor arena in Center City, Philadelphia. It would be the future home of the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and is planned to open in 2031. The arena would be located in Center City on the site of Fashion District Philadelphia near the Market–Frankford Line and Jefferson Station. 76 Place is expected to be privately funded at a cost of $1.3 billion by 76ers owner Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE), with real estate developer and HBSE limited partner David Adelman leading the project.