As the NFL moves forward with plans to open its seal tables to institutional funding, it held several meetings on Thursday with private equity firms at its headquarters.
According to several people with knowledge of the procedure and who were given the anonymity to the case, the NFL was represented in the room by director Roger Goodell, fund chief Joe Siclare, CFO Christine Dorfler, and group attorneys Jeffrey Pash and Jay Bauman. Staff from PJT Partners, which the NFL hired to assist the operation, were also there.
Members of the committee formed last year to look into modifications to the NFL system were able to watch on Zoom. Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, Atlanta Falcons user Arthur Blank, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, and Denver Broncos user Greg Penner are all members of that council, which includes Kansas City Chiefs user Clark Hunt, who is chairman of the NFL’s financing commission.

One of the meetings was with Arctos Partners and another was with a consortium that includes Carlyle, Blackstone, CVC and Dynasty Equity, the people said. One person compared the group of consortium executives to” The Avengers” in terms of size. The other PE firms that had meetings with the league were unknowable. The presentations covered the companies ‘ backgrounds, plans, and why private equity is a good fit for the NFL. The NFL side had high-level questions, but did not provide any guidance on next steps in the process.
The NFL and the present private equity firms did not have any comments on the discussions.
The PE committee is sorting through a number of issues, including whether groups will need to raise NFL-specific funds or how much money is being allowed. The NFL will then need to create a policy and submit the draft to a full owner’s vote.
The NFL is the only major U. S. league that does not allow institutional investors. It has been monitoring other leagues for more than a year. The richest league in the world is expected to be significantly more conservative than its competitors, which would coincide with its stricter ownership regulations in areas like team sales and governance. The NFL has purposefully discussed how to approach the subject more carefully while other leagues have rushed to welcome new investors.
The NBA, MLB, MLS and NWSL all allow funds to hold up to 30 % of a team’s equity. According to sources, the NFL has been discussing the 10 % range, with some owners pushing for a closer percentage. Other major leagues do n’t require investors to obtain separate capital for their franchise investments either.
The average NFL team is worth$ 5.93 billion, according to Sportico valuations published on Tuesday. As that number continues to grow, the number of people with the money ( and interest ) to buy minority stakes keeps shrinking. There are currently several large minority stakes on the market that are still untradeable, and control sales of the Denver Broncos and Washington Commanders raised questions about whether the league was” too big to sell.”

Most people in the league believe that owners will vote to allow some kind of institutional option. If the rules permit, a few teams already have term sheets ready to go into production, according to sources, while others are currently weighing potential stakes with both institutional and individual backers.
Should there be a requirement for a private equity vote, Commissioner Roger Goodell advised owners to be prepared for a potential meeting on August 27. Another option is the regular fall NFL meetings, which are scheduled for October 15 and 16 in Atlanta.
With assistance from Eben Novy-Williams.