Sharon Hwang has joined MSP Sports Capital as partner and chief operating officer, giving the start-up firm a stronger foundation with which to take minority and majority stakes in sports teams, leagues and companies.
Previously chief operating officer at the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, Hwang joins Partner and CEO Jeff Moorad, a long-time sports agent in the NFL and MLB, and Partner and Chairman Jahm Najafi, a sports, media, technology, consumer and real estate investor who serves as vice chairman for the NBA’s Phoenix Suns.
New York City-based MSP Sports Capital has completed five investments since its founding in 2019. These include minority investments in McLaren Racing, Waasland Beveren, a Belgian soccer club and in FC Augsburg, a German soccer club. The firm also holds a majority stake in Estoril Praia, a Portuguese soccer club. It has sole ownership of AD Alcorcón, a Madrid, Spain-based soccer club.
In 2020 MSP invested roughly $250 million for a 15 percent stake in the McLaren Formula One team alongside co-investors UBS O’Connor and The Najafi Companies, a private investment firm where Najafi is owner and CEO. With the investment, Najafi became a vice-chairman of McLaren Racing and Moorad joined the board of directors.