Collaborative Fund, a 15-year-old New York-based venture firm with roughly $1 billion under management, is taking a stake in D.C. United and its stadium, Audi Field. It is the latest firm to follow Thrive Capital into pro sports ownership. Joshua Kushner's Thrive launched Thrive Eternal to hold iconic franchises, first backing the San Francisco Giants before co-owner Bob Iger helped buy the Lakers for a record $12.5 billion. Other investors have historically entered through personal wealth, such as Vinod Khosla's family buying the Seattle Seahawks for $9.6 billion, or via private equity firms like Sixth Street, Ares, Red Bird, and Arctos.

Thrive built a standalone permanent-capital vehicle, while Collaborative is investing from its early-stage fund, treating the deal more like infrastructure. Founder Craig Shapiro called D.C. United "the ultimate consumer product," citing Major League Soccer's growth, the upcoming World Cup and LA Olympics, and Audi Field's location in Washington, D.C. The firm sees the stadium as a living showcase for portfolio companies like Whoop and Olipop, leveraging tens of thousands of fans as a distribution channel.

Collaborative pointed to Loudoun County, Virginia, for talent development and rights to a future Baltimore expansion team. Shapiro framed the move as less about owning an appreciating asset and more about what the team enables in an era when live experiences grow more valuable amid AI-driven synthetic daily life.