Bruin buys into Matchroom

Bruin Capital has agreed to acquire a 15% stake in Matchroom at a valuation of more than £1 billion, giving the Hearns fresh capital as they push harder into the U.S. market. Barry and Eddie Hearn will retain majority control, with Eddie staying on as group chairman, but the deal brings in one of the most active specialist sports investors in the market. Matchroom now sits across boxing, darts, snooker, pool and fishing, with a portfolio that includes the Professional Darts Corporation, World Snooker and major boxing properties built around fighters such as Anthony Joshua. Financial reporting around the transaction also points to a business that generated £225 million in revenue and £37.6 million in pre-tax profit in the year to June 2025, which helps explain why an investor like Bruin sees room for further scale.

The U.S. remains the obvious prize for future scale, particularly in boxing and darts, where media distribution, sponsorship and live-event economics still offer meaningful upside if the product can be packaged properly. Bruin’s background in sports media and streaming makes that fit logical. This is not rescue capital and it is not a vanity buy. It is growth money behind a proven sports-rights and events platform that already has strong international reach but believes there is another level to unlock. In that sense, the deal says quite a lot about where investors still see value in sport: not only in teams and leagues, but in independent properties that own events, audiences and rights across multiple sports.