Private equity sales in the NFL have been “incredibly successful”, according to the American football league’s commissioner Roger Goodell.
It comes after the league voted to allow NFL franchise stakes to be sold to the sector for the first time in 2024.
Those stakes are capped at 10 per cent of a franchise but are listed as passive, denying decision-making rights to firms.
Ares Management purchased a stake in the Miami Dolphins, valuing the Florida franchise at $8.1bn, while Egon Durban of Silver Lake and Discovery Land Company’s Michael Meldman have 7.5 per cent in the LAs Vegas Raiders.
The Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Chargers have sold stakes to Arctos Partners and Sixth Street will soon acquire 3 per cent of the New England Patriots.
“PE is a source of capital, a source of liquidity for our teams, and they can invest back into their franchises, and that’s a really positive thing for us,” Goodell said.
Private equity success in NFL
Last August the league said that they’d “been thinking about private equity for five years”.
“The list of permitted funds,” they added, “consists of Arctos Partners, LP; Ares Management Corporation; Sixth Street; and a consortium group including Blackstone, Carlyle, CVC, Dynasty Equity and Ludis (which is led by Hall of Fame running back Curtis Martin).
“Direct investment by sovereign wealth funds and pension funds is not allowed. Such funds are allowed to be investors in the overall private equity funds, but even then, their participation would be limited to a very small percentage share of ownership.”
Sportico’s NFL franchise valuations list places three teams – Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Rams and New York Giants – at valuations of $10bn or higher.
Every one of the 32 franchises is valued at $5.5bn or higher with all teams seeing double digit percentage growth on 2024.