Private Equity Firms Seek NFL Investment Amid $1.2tn War Chest
Private Equity Insights
The National Football League is an exclusive club, and for those looking to buy their way in, the price of a franchise has gotten so high it’s beyond the reach of ordinary billionaires. But now the league is set to change its rules and allow private equity firms, which make their living buying and flipping businesses, to invest in teams. Could this change how the league—and many people’s favorite teams—do business?
The short answer is we shouldn’t expect an onslaught of buyout shops bidding for NFL teams just yet. But there will be interest. The NFL’s guaranteed TV deals could be worth more than $126 billion by 2033, according to Forbes.
In recent years, valuations of NFL teams have soared, prompting considerable interest in the league’s 32 franchises. Last year, for instance, Dan Snyder sold the Washington Commanders for a record $6.05 billion to a group of investors led by Josh Harris. Snyder paid $800 million for the team—then called the Redskins—in 1999. The purchase of the Commanders stands as the most expensive sale of an American sports franchise, even eclipsing the $4.65 billion paid for the Denver Broncos in 2022.
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If billionaires can no longer afford sports franchises, who can? Well, that’s why league officials are taking a hard look at private equity firms, which are sitting on a $1.2 trillion war chest and always on the hunt for deals. A handful of PE firms have amassed stakes in NBA, MLS, MLB, and NHL franchises; the small number is mainly the result of high barriers to entry. (For example, most leagues require potential funds to have at least $750 million in capital, one source familiar with the franchise industry told Fortune.)
The NFL is the last major professional sports league in North America that prohibits private equity firms from investing in teams, a rule that reflects the owners’ historical desire to keep the NFL an insiders’ club. But since the summer of 2023, a special committee has been reviewing potential changes to those rules, according to ESPN. The NFL has appointed PJT Partners to serve as
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