MLS In Talks To Sell Part Of SUM To Providence Equity Partners

MLS is "negotiating to sell an equity stake in its media and marketing business, Soccer United Marketing, to Providence Equity Partners," according to sources cited by Ourand & Kaplan of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. Sources said that Providence is "interested in obtaining up to a 25 percent stake in SUM for $125 million to $150 million." Such a deal "would value SUM at between $500 million and $600 million." MLS "could use the influx of cash in a couple of ways." Sources said that the league is "likely to distribute at least some of the proceeds among its shareholder-owners, who, as a group, have experienced hundreds of millions of dollars in losses since MLS’s inception in 1996." The league also could "use some of the money to create a fund to help attract better players." For Providence, which has investments in YES Network, Univision Communications and World Triathalon Corp., the deal "allows it to get further into sports content" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 9/12 issue).