Arctos announced a strategic partnership with RVX Ventures and Magellan Development Group to launch a national platform focused on sports-anchored development projects.
Arctos is an investing business in KKR Solutions that partners with leaders in sports to support growth and business transformation. RVX Ventures is a real estate development platform focused on mixed-use entertainment districts, while Magellan Development Group is a national urban mixed-use real estate developer.
The platform’s first project is Neyland Entertainment District, a mixed-use development planned along the Tennessee River waterfront next to Neyland Stadium at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
The project is structured as a public-private partnership with the University of Tennessee. The development is expected to include about 100,000 square feet of entertainment space, a 24-story hotel and residences, and a private members club. The district is designed to improve the gameday experience while creating a year-round destination for the Knoxville community.
Arctos is serving as the majority equity investor and is participating as a general partner alongside a sponsor team led by RVX, Magellan, and Dixon Greenwood.
The new platform is designed to address the growing demand from universities, professional sports organizations, and municipalities seeking to transform the areas surrounding stadiums and arenas into year-round destinations. The partners said that the successful development of these districts requires significant capital, large-scale development expertise, and hands-on experience in programming and operating entertainment venues.
Neyland Entertainment District is the first project in what the partners intend to become a national platform pursuing opportunities across the collegiate and professional sports markets. The partnership’s model includes sourcing, capitalization, development, and operations, enabling the team to take projects from concept through execution under one structure.
The partners said each project will be designed around the identity and priorities of the community it serves, even as the platform scales nationally.
Arctos was founded in 2019 and acquired by KKR in 2026. The firm is part of KKR Solutions and provides growth capital, liquidity solutions, strategic support, and value creation capabilities across sports and private markets.
KEY QUOTES:
“Neyland Stadium is an iconic venue in college sports, and we’re grateful to the University of Tennessee for their shared vision and collaboration in bringing this dynamic entertainment district to life. We see significant opportunity at the convergence of live sports and real estate, and we wanted to be more than a capital provider in this space. RVX and Magellan have the track records and the operational know-how to deliver on complex projects like this, and together we can define how sports-anchored districts are conceived, built and operated.”
Chad Hutchinson, Partner at Arctos
“We believe sports-anchored entertainment districts represent one of the most compelling opportunities in experiential real estate today. With Arctos and Magellan as partners, we are building a platform with the expertise, relationships and capital needed to deliver transformative projects for universities, teams and communities across the country.”
Taylor Gray, Principal of RVX Ventures
“This project will be one of the great sports-anchored destinations in the country. It has it all: a passionate fanbase, legendary venue and a university committed to doing something transformative. Magellan has spent three decades reshaping neighborhoods and creating places that endure, and we’re excited to bring those same principles to the sports and entertainment space alongside RVX and Arctos. Neyland Entertainment District will set a new standard for what development adjacent to major sports assets can look like.”
J.R. Berger, President of Magellan Development Group
