In 2024, the NFL’s owners voted to allow private equity firms to invest in their franchises. Several teams have since taken advantage, although an expansion on that front is not forthcoming.

Current rules allow for private equity firms to take on a stake as high as 10% in an NFL team. Sovereign wealth funds and public corporations are not permitted to directly invest in teams, although wealth funds can represent an investor in a PE fund which in turn buys a share in a team. The list of firms eligible for NFL investments has remained largely unchanged over the past two years.

Mark Maske and Ben Horney of Front Office Sports report the NFL’s owners have no plans of changing the rules regarding PE investment. This update comes in the wake of Major League’s Baseball’s limit for the stake a private equity firm can own in an individual franchise recently being raised from 15% to 20%. That matches the setup currently in place for the NBA. The limit for a non-controlling PE stake is lower in those leagues when primary owners control less than 20% of a franchise, but that situation is not possible in the NFL.

Each controlling owner of an NFL team is required to hold a share of 30% or more at all times. In many cases, that figure is much higher. Still, the list of franchises which have finalized the sale of a minority stake through private equity includes the Patriots, Chargers, Bills, Browns and Dolphins. The most recent team sale – of the Seahawks – saw three different firms each take on a small stake in the defending Super Bowl champions.

NFL rules allow for firms to invest in as many as six different franchises. With the valuation of teams reaching unprecedented levels (as shown by Seattle’s record-breaking sale this offseason), it would certainly come as no surprise if widespread investment were to continue or if the list of approved firms were to grow. The maximum stake any one firm can hold will not be adjusted in response to the recent MLB changes, though.