Michael Rothstein, ESPN Staff WriterMay 19, 2024, 06:49 AM ET
CloseMichael Rothstein is a reporter for NFL Nation at ESPN. Rothstein covers the Atlanta Falcons. You can follow him via Twitter @MikeRothstein.
A special committee of NFL owners has spent the past nine months investigating potential changes to league rules for team ownership, an attempt to grapple with a shrinking pool of potential team buyers amid soaring team valuations.
One of the possibilities on the table: allowing institutional wealth, including private equity, to invest in NFL franchises, which the league has never permitted.
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Owners will likely discuss — and potentially vote on — the committee’s research and findings at league meetings in Nashville this week.
“They’ve been very deliberate in the way they’ve evaluated different alternatives,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in March. “We’re making progress. I think there’ll be some changes, maybe as early as May, probably closer to October.”
A move to allow private equity firms or institutional wealth to invest as limited partners could free up cash for owners to pursue projects such as stadium renovations and would represent a large shift in how the league has historically operated, with the majority of franchises traditionally run as family businesses with single-family ownership.
As the league continues to explore changes, what could this mean for teams? For private equity funds? If this happens, how could this all work?
What is private equity?
Private equity firms pool money from investors into a fund that then acquires stakes, or outright purchases, of public or private companies, real estate and other assets, with the goal of eventually selling the investment at a later date for profit.
These types of firms back or own companies worldwide. In recent years, sports-specific groups such as Arctos Partners, RedBird Capital and Blue Owl’s Dyal HomeCourt Partners have emerged to invest in teams and leagues.
In 2010, private…
Source link : https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/40164039/private-equity-nfl-ownership-proposal-changes
Author : Michael Rothstein
Publish date : 2024-05-19 16:57:20
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