Before the partnership, RedBird Capital took stakes in James’ SpringHill — the production company worth approximately $300 million that James started with his longtime friend Maverick Carter — and Fenway Sports Group, the ownership group in which he became a partner with Carter in 2021. The move made the two its first Black partners.

“I think for me and for my partner, Maverick, to be the first two Black men to be a part of that ownership group in the history of that franchise, I think it’s pretty damn cool,” James said in March 2021. “It gives me and people that look like me hope and inspiration that they can be in a position like that as well, that it can be done. It gives my kids at my I Promise School more and more inspiration as well.”

The move secured him an ownership stake in its subsidiaries including Red Sox, Liverpool Football Club of the English Premier League, Roush Fenway Racing, and more.

In November 2021, James added the Pittsburgh Penguins to his portfolio after FSG and its partners made the purchase of $900 million for the National Hockey League team, as previously reported by AfroTech.

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