NFL owners approve private equity investment
The NFL’s most exclusive club just let in new members: private equity firms.
The NFL’s most exclusive club just let in new members.
At a special league meeting in Eagan, Minnesota, on Tuesday, National Football League owners voted in favor of allowing select private equity firms to buy up to a 10% stake of a team. Each fund or consortium will be able to do deals with up to six teams.
The NFL logo on a football.Jacob Kupferman / Getty Images fileThe initial approved firms include Ares Management, Sixth Street Partners and Arctos Partners, in addition to a consortium nicknamed “The Avengers” that includes Dynasty Equity, Blackstone, Carlyle Group, CVC Capital Partners and Ludis, a platform founded by investor and former NFL running back Curtis Martin.
The firms collectively have $2 trillion in assets and intend to commit $12 billion of capital to be raised (inclusive of leverage) over time, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified to speak about terms that were not public. With at least four investor groups able to invest in up to six teams each, that works out to $500 million of added capital on average for each team that receives an investment.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told CNBC in July that the league has had tremendous interest from private equity.
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