Eagle Football Holdings Bidco: Insights From A Bloomberg Article

Remains Rated CCR 5 And An Important Underperformer

March 2, 2026

A few weeks ago, we wrote this in the BDC Credit Reporter:

At a time when many are worrying about Private Credit's loans to software companies, the BDC Credit Reporter is concerned about the increasing enthusiasm for investing in sports franchises worldwide. This is a new area for leveraged lending and we question whether it's a good idea. A case in point is the nearly quarter of a billion dollars committed in debt and equity in Eagle Football Holdings.

Bloomberg has recently published a behind-the-scenes article about the relationship between Ares Management, the external advisor to Ares Capital (ARCC), the only BDC lender to Eagle Football, and its owner. We also learned about many of the financial machinations occurring behind the scenes. Nothing we learned diminished our skepticism about sports franchise lending.

We learned about the company's apparently mercurial owner, John Textor, and his uncomfortable relationship with Ares and with the company's new President, Michele Kang, who has taken the businessman's place in that role. Apparently, Kang also invested capital in the business, and her appointment was demanded by Ares as part of a rescue package. The relationship between the owner and the new President appears not to be going smoothly:

But Textor, used to having a hands-on role in his investments, has been unable to let go. While Textor praised Kang’s “remarkable leadership” in helping Lyon avoid relegation in a statement at the time, his tone has shifted in more recent correspondence. He’s accused Ares and Kang of operating a “shadow board” at Lyon and running it in a way that disadvantages Eagle’s other teams...The American has also filed a complaint with Autorité des marchés financiers, France’s markets regulator, claiming Ares and Kang have not been transparent with him and other stakeholders. A spokesperson for Textor said he had sent a formal demand to Ares and Kang to “submit all meeting minutes and decisions to the AMF.”

ARCC is clearly on the way out. As we've noted, most of its debt has been placed on non-accrual, and the small amounts of additional capital that have been advanced to the company in the form of loans (treated as "performing") are at an interest rate of 20%, albeit payable in PIK form. Moreover, the BDC has written down its total investment by ($48mn) from its $72mn cost, most of which occurred in 2025. In fact, last year, this investment was the second-largest unrealized loss to a company booked in the year. The current value is $24mn.

Textor is talking about refinancing the company with a new lender, which will probably be music to ARCC's ears. However, as far as we know, that has not happened, and we continue to estimate that ARCC could face a 75%-100% loss on the investment. For a BDC of its size, this would be a modest loss, even in a worst-case. However, this ongoing episode does underscore that sports franchise investing/lending, which Ares and other asset managers have embraced with alacrity, may not be an ideal way to branch out of the traditional Private Credit marketplace.