Ari Emanuel Launches MARI, Consolidating Miami and Madrid Opens, Frieze and Barrett-Jackson

Backed by roughly $2 billion, the venture aims to scale premium live experiences across sports, art, culture.

Overview

Transactions closed with the launch, moving IMG’s tennis portfolio — including the Miami Open and Mutua Madrid Open — under MARI following Endeavor’s privatization earlier this year.
The Frieze acquisition is finalized ahead of next week’s London fairs, with Simon Fox continuing as CEO.
Funding totals about $2 billion from investors such as Apollo, RedBird Capital Partners, Qatar Investment Authority and Ares funds, plus Patrick Soon-Shiong, Eric Schmidt and athlete backers Luka Dončić, Anthony Edwards and Sabrina Ionescu.
Mark Shapiro joins as a principal investor and board member, Matt Cohn becomes managing partner and Ben Enowitz is named CFO, while Barrett-Jackson founder Craig Jackson remains CEO.
The Miami Open stake is co-invested with the group behind the Miami Dolphins, Hard Rock Stadium and the F1 Miami Grand Prix, including Stephen Ross, Joe Tsai, Oliver Weisberg and Ares-managed funds.