NFL owners newly endorse private equity stakes of up to 10% in teams

EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — The booming business of the NFL will now be open for more business.

League owners voted their carefully crafted approval of private equity in club ownership, putting in place a provisional new rule on Tuesday that lets certain firms buy up a stake of up to 10% in any of the 32 franchises that have soared in value over the past few decades like few other industries.

At a special meeting in Minnesota, nine days before the regular-season opener, owners for the first time opened their teams to institutional investment after previously prohibiting it. Other major American sports leagues allow as much as 30% holdings by private equity firms, and it’s a common practice in international soccer.

“It’s an access to capital that has been interest to us for a long time,” Commissioner Roger Goodell said after the session at the Omni Viking Lakes Hotel, which sits across from the headquarters of the Minnesota Vikings. “I think it’s an appropriate thing to give teams that liquidity to reinvest in the game and to their teams.”

The NFL with this vote permitted four different groups to enter the arena: Arctos Partners, Ares Management Corporation and Sixth Street, plus a consortium of five firms — Blackstone, Carlyle, CVC, Dynasty Equity and Ludis.

Ludis was founded by Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Curtis Martin, who spearheaded the collaboration as part of his effort to include minority race investors in NFL ownership positions.

“This is something that we’ve long fought for and tried to find ways to encourage that,” Goodell said.

The NFL let MLB, MLS and the NBA and NHL go ahead on this front, content to take notes in a cautious approach with a steadfast goal of preserving the parameters of the single-owner structure that has seen several of its prominent franchises stay in the same family for generations.

Since the study was initiated five years ago, the Denver Broncos ($4.65 billion) and Washington Commanders ($6.05 billion) have been sold in further illustration of the opportunity for current owners to liquify portions of their teams. These increasingly expensive and complicated transactions have also become more difficult for prospective owners without potential cash boosts from private equity firms.

The process accelerated a year ago, and a special committee on ownership policy was created including Kansas City’s Clark Hunt, Denver’s Greg Penner, New England’s Robert Kraft, Cleveland’s Jimmy Haslam and Atlanta’s Arthur Blank.

“The support today in the room was very strong for this decision,” Penner said. “One thing that was really important was giving owners a different option for capital sources but at the same time maintaining how we operate.”