The Los Angeles Chargers and the Miami Dolphins are among a number of National Football League teams potentially involved in bringing in private equity investors, people familiar with the situation said.
An owner of the Chargers, controlled by the Spanos family, is in advanced talks with two buyout firms to offload a stake, according to the people. The Dolphins are also in talks with private equity firms, alongside a number of potential individual buyers, they said. The owners of the Philadelphia Eagles and the Buffalo Bills are having similar discussions, one of the people said.
Deliberations are ongoing and none of the potential sellers have made any final decisions about selling stakes, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information.
Spokespeople for the Dolphins and the NFL declined to comment. Representatives for the Chargers, Eagles and Bills didn’t respond to requests for comment. The New York Times first reported the Dolphins were in talks with private equity.
NFL owners last month voted to allow private equity firms to buy stakes in their franchises, a move expected to attract billions in fresh capital while boosting team valuations that had already been surging. The NFL is keen to approve select deals before the end of the year, partly in order to set a price for valuations, and to solve a number of long-term ownership problems.
Four private equity groups have been approved to invest in NFL franchises. These are: Arctos Partners, Ares Management and Sixth Street Partners and a consortium comprised of Dynasty Equity, Blackstone, Carlyle Group and CVC Capital Partners. Firms can buy stakes of as much a 10% and will have to hold any investment for six years.
Talks recently fell apart between billionaire Ken Griffin and Dolphins owner Stephen Ross over a possible minority stake in the team, along with the Hard Rock Stadium and the F1 Miami Grand Prix.
The Chargers’ ownership is split between a number of owners throughout the Spanos family. Alex Spanos, who died in 2018, divided the team between his four children who own 15% each, with a further 36% held in a family trust.
Bills owners Terry and Kim Pegula have hired Allen & Co. to help sell a minority stake in the Bills. They bought them back in 2014 for a then record $1.4 billion. Sportico values the team at about $5 billion.
Owner Dea Spanos Berberian has previously been in talks to sell a roughly quarter stake in the NFL franchise to Clearlake Capital.
