Fort Worth private equity firm TPG announced this week that it has agreed to acquire Learfield, a Plano-based media company that specializes in monetizing the intellectual property of college athletics.
Since a recapitalization in 2023, Learfield has been owned by Clearlake Capital Group, Charlesbank Capital Partners and funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group. In their announcement Learfield said CharlesGroup will continue to hold a minority stake.
A dozen Davis Polk attorneys advised Learfield from New York, while 19 Ropes & Gray lawyers from across the country represented TPG, as did Boston law firm Mintz. John Raleigh is the Chief Legal Officer at Learfield.
TPG’s financial advisors on the acquisition of Learfield were Evercore and The Raine Group; while Learfield used Moelis & Co. and BofA Securities as its advisors.
TPG said Learfield “serves as the monetization engine for collegiate sports intellectual property, linking more than 12,000 brands and over 1,200 institutions with an integrated suite of sponsorship and media solutions, ticketing technology, licensing management, name, image, and likeness strategy, and AI-enabled data platforming.”
Learfield CEO Cole Gahagan said his company “is reshaping the future of collegiate athletics and live entertainment, uniting fans, brands, athletes, and universities, and growing our partners’ revenues at unprecedented levels.”
TPG will invest in Learfield through TPG Capital, the firm’s U.S. and European private equity platform, and TPG Sports, the firm’s dedicated investing business focused on partnering with leading sports companies and platforms.
TPG Sports is a partnership with Symphony Ventures, a firm that includes professional golfer Rory McIlroy. The announcement was made last year shortly after McIlroy won the 2025 Masters Tournament. The Learfield deal was announced Tuesday, two days after he followed as 2026 Masters champion.