NFL Owners to Vote on Private Equity Ownership

The National Football League (HEREFORE NFL) could be approaching the largest change in its ownership structure since inception, with a critical meeting set for August 27th in Minneapolis. What might make them more significant, however, is a powerful group of team owners who have gathered -- potentially to approve an unprecedented proposal that would enable private equity firms to own the franchises for the first time and forever change how money flows through one of professional sports' most prominent leagues.

A special committee of owners has spent the past few months trying to formulate changes that would make it less onerous for Rule 4.3 — ‘[No person] shall be entitled to obtain membership in more than six [NFL teams], etc.’ The crux of those conversations have centered on whether and what would happen if private equity took ownership stakes in the league A year-old effort that sets out to bring new capital into the league and replace its fossil owners.

MinneapolisThat meeting in Minneapolis will not be just another assembly — it could become the definitive moment when months of deliberations finally come to a head with an up-or-down vote on whether these changes should take effect. If ratified, it would be a landmark departure from the strict rules that have largely restricted NFL ownership to individual proprietors and, in most cases, barred corporate or financial entities above 10 percent.

Incorporating private equity investment could help a shrinking NFL pocket of capital that promotes more stable balance sheets or allows expansion in new directions. One area where this could actually be pretty helpful is for a team that was cash-strapped and needed to fund new stadia or similar OPXY-type shit. Additionally, private equity money could drive up valuations across the board — both of teams and perhaps leagues.

At the same time, though, the proposal also calls into question what it could mean for league control and potentially shifting power from owners. If this results in private equity firms getting involved too (with the customary high returns they expect), it could mean changes to how teams are run. How would these firms impact the decisions of team management, game-day operations and long-term strategy is another story.

The sports world is watching the NFL owners closely heading into their meeting in Minneapolis. While the change in league ownership would seem minimal, one of America's wealthiest sports leagues potentially welcoming private equity investments into its fold has implications not only for financial deals all over football but possibly across Capitalsports as a whole.

The meeting symbolized the most defining weekend in NFL history, because it potentially could reshape its financial and business future. It would be precedent-setting in professional sports ownership and finance, so both the sports community and business stakeholders will likely follow this closely.