Sources: NFL owners to vote for private equity

EAGAN, Minn. — NFL owners are expected to vote to change the league’s ownership structure Tuesday, allowing private equity firms to purchase limited stakes in NFL teams, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter and multiple reports.

The owners flew to Minnesota for a special session called by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, where they are expected to approve allowing the sale of up to 10% of a stake in a franchise to a select number of private equity firms the league has vetted at over the past few months, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter and multiple reports.

A move to allow private equity firms 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.

If the vote goes as expected, there is no requirement for NFL teams to take on private equity investment. That decision will still come on a club-by-club basis — and any potential deals would still need to be approved by the league’s owners.

Rising valuations — the Denver Broncos sold for $4.65 billion in 2022 and the Washington Commanders for $6.05 billion in 2023 with a bevy of limited partners — helped the league look to investigate changes to its ownership structures. Limited partners typically have little to no decision-making power.

The vote is the culmination of almost a year’s worth of work for a special committee formed by Goodell last fall to consider changes to the NFL’s ownership structure, consisting of Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, Denver Broncos CEO Greg Penner and Clark Hunt, the Kansas City Chiefs owner and finance committee chair.

In May, Hunt said he believed “everybody in the room is on board with the conversations proceeding. Obviously the litmus test will be when we get to voting on it.”

That day will come Tuesday. In May, Hunt said the committee was focused on making sure the parameters made sense for the league’s varying ownership groups. Since the league’s inception in 1920, NFL teams have typically been owned by one person or family with the ability to take on individual limited partners.

Tuesday’s vote could change that.

In May, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said he felt delving into private equity was “thoroughly to my satisfaction evaluated. … I’m very confident we’re touching all the spots, all the important places.”

If the change is approved, the NFL will join every other major American sports league — and most of global soccer — in allowing some level of private equity ownership. The NBA, MLS, NWSL, NHL and MLB all allow for up to 30% of their franchises to be owned by private equity firms or, in some cases, sovereign wealth funds. This doesn’t mean one fund can purchase 30% of a team. Some leagues cap how much a single fund can invest. MLS and the NBA, NHL and NWSL allow for up to 20% ownership by one fund. MLB has a 15% cap.

In the NWSL, subject to board approval, an institutional investor can hold a majority stake in a franchise provided the firm isn’t investing in other clubs. Sixth Street Partners is the majority owner of Bay FC, for example, with Sixth Street CEO Alan Waxman as a co-chair of the franchise along with former U.S. women’s national team player Aly Wagner.