New York Mets owner Steve Cohen has amassed a new 5.5% stake in Sphere Entertainment, according to a Monday SEC filing. The move aligns Cohen with fellow New York sports team owner, Jim Dolan, whose family has voting control of the Sphere, in addition to the New York Knicks and New York Rangers.
Cohen’s 1.56 million shares in Sphere, including 582,400 shares of Class A Common Stock issuable upon exercise of options, are owned through his Point72 Asset Management hedge fund and were all bought during the second quarter. The investment was disclosed in a Schedule 13G, which is similar to a 13D filing, for those investment firms that own more than 5% of a company’s shares.
The Dolan family owns 6.9 million shares of Sphere Entertainment, while its sports teams are owned via the publicly traded Madison Square Garden Sports. Other large institutional holders of Sphere include Ariel Investments, Vanguard Group and Jericho Capital Asset Management.
This is not Cohen’s first investment in Sphere. Point72 owned 262,102 shares at the end of 2023, but the firm sold the entire stake during the first quarter of 2024.
Cohen’s hedge fund oversees more than $30 billion in assets, and he earned $1.6 billion last year from investment fees and gains from his personal capital in the fund, according to Institutional Investor’s annual tally of the highest-paid hedge fund managers.
A representative for Point72 declined to comment on the Sphere investment.
The $2.3 billion Sphere opened in September and has captivated visitors with its imagery. U2 opened the venue with a 40-concert run, and Phish, Dead & Company and the Eagles were later added to the schedule. The Sphere will also host the NHL Draft this Friday and Saturday, the first sporting event in the venue since its opening. UFC 306 will take place there in late September.
The bulk of the Sphere’s revenue is generated by the Sphere Experience, featuring Postcards from Earth. The multi-sensory show grossed more than $1 million in average daily ticket sales and generated $100.5 million in total revenue overall for 257 performances during the most recent quarter. MSG Networks is also owned by Sphere Entertainment
Source: Sportico
Preview image: Shutterstock
