Private equity company Apollo agrees to finance deal with New York Yankees organization for $2.6 billion

After MLB owners offered a salary cap for the first time since 1994, NFL star Saquon Barkley recently spoke to Fox News Digital and shared his full support for the players.

Well, it's here, private equity has entered the world of Major League Baseball.

Private equity has long yearned to make inroads into the growing and increasingly lucrative world of sports, including even college football teams or conferences. But this week became the biggest sign yet that these businesses are intent on increasing their investments into preeminent sporting organizations.

Not just any preeminent sporting organization, the largest, most successful and most recognizable brand in Major League Baseball: the New York Yankees.

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Yankees principal owner Hal Steinbrenner speaks during a press conference at Yankee Stadium on December 21, 2022 in Bronx, New York. (Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)

On Tuesday, Apollo Sports Capital and the Yankees announced that the two sides had agreed to a deal injecting $2.6 billion into the Yankees franchise, while keeping the Steinbrenner family in charge. This represents one of the largest investments into a baseball team, and a blueprint for similar investments moving forward.

It's not clear how much of a stake in the Yankees Apollo is purchasing, though Forbes estimated the organization's valuation at around $8.5 billion earlier in 2026. But Major League Baseball rules restricts any individual private equity company to 15% ownership stake in a team.

Again, though it's not been reported how much ownership Apollo is taking, it seems likely that $8.5 billion figure is far too low. And it indicates that, as usual, owners