LeBron James is not shipping up to Boston.
The NBA superstar did become a part-owner of the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday after he and his childhood friend and business partner, Maverick Carter, became partners in the baseball team's parent company, Fenway Sports Group. At first glance, it's a splashy move, pitting together one of America's greatest athletes with one of its most iconic franchises, but it sounds like it will ultimately be a stepping stone for James in his business ventures.
The Athletic's Joe Vardon writes that James "typically does not pay top dollar for these ownership stakes" — he owns a 2 percent share of the English Premier League team, Liverpool, which is also owned by FSG, and Axios reports his stake in the Red Sox is somewhere around 1 percent — and "this is not what he meant when he told me two years ago that he would eventually be a pro sports owner. He's thinking much bigger."
All told, it sounds like this is a deal that could benefit both James and FSG, but seemingly isn't earth-shattering. Read more at The Athletic and Axios.