Blue Jays icon Jose Bautista buys Las Vegas soccer team as retired star diversifies sports ventures

Jose Bautista has acquired full ownership of a soccer team. The former baseball player is now the principal owner for the Las Vegas Lights Football Club, a United Soccer League squad. The former All-Star has been working on his business portfolio since stepping away from the sport and this is his latest venture.

Bautista said in a statement via USL Championship:

“As a soccer fan and former professional athlete, I am excited to be involved with the world’s game. Since my retirement from professional baseball, I have witnessed the incredible growth of soccer in the United States and particularly with the USL, which I’ve been following closely for a couple years."

He also said:

"I look forward to sharing my love of sports with the Vegas soccer community. Vegas is the place to be and has emerged as a big professional sports town, and I will do everything I can to push this club forward.”

The former Toronto Blue Jays standout retired in 2023 and immediately continued what he had been doing in the latter years of his career in purchasing and investing in various businesses. This is the latest but probably not the last of its kind.

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Jose Bautista continues to expand sports ventures

The Las Vegas Lights are not Jose Bautista’s first venture in the sports business. The ex-MLB star was an early partner, lead investor and board member for Marucci Sports. They are a baseball equipment startup that was eventually sold to Compass Diversified Holdings in 2020.

Jose Bautista is investing in a lot of places

He also invested in Canadian outerwear company Canada Goose and Endy Sleep, another Canada-based company this time in the e-commerce field. They sell sleep products, and were acquired by Sleep Country in 2018.

Bautista is a partner and senior advisor to MyAccountant as well, one of the biggest personal finance technology companies out there. It's not just sports businesses that interest the former slugger, as he's been investing in all sorts of things.

Finally, Bautista also has partnership agreements with several brands, including Audi, Hublot, Coca-Cola, TD Bank, General Mills, The Players Tribune and New Balance.

Bautista also played for the Atlanta Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates and a few other MLB clubs.