NFL Owners Set to Vote on Dolphins, Bills Stakes for Tsai, Carter, PE Firms

Nets owner Joe Tsai, former NBA star Vince Carter, and other prospective owners of minority stakes in NFL teams are slated for a vote from the league’s owners at the winter meetings in Dallas on Wednesday, a source confirmed to Front Office Sports.

Tsai (3%) and private equity firm Ares Management (10%) have entered into deals to purchase minority stakes in the Dolphins and other assets at an $8.1 billion valuation, while Carter, fellow former standout Tracy McGrady and MLS player Jozy Altidore are part of Gridiron Capital’s deal to purchase a piece of the Bills, the source told FOS. 

The votes on Ares and Gridiron Capital will be the first votes since the NFL voted in August to allow private equity firms to purchase up to 10% of a team. 

All proposed deals have been vetted by the NFL finance committee, which typically doesn’t allow a full ownership vote unless there’s a high level of certainty for approval. At least 75% of owners have to approve any kind of transfer of ownership. 

Update, Dec. 11, 10:57 a.m. ET: The Dolphins and Bills stakes were approved by a vote of NFL owners on Wednesday morning, as were two previously reported stakes in the Philadelphia Eagles that valued the team at more than $8 billion. Our original story continues below.

The Dolphins are the latest addition to Tsai’s portfolio, which also includes the Brooklyn Nets, New York Liberty, and both the San Diego Seals and Las Vegas Desert Dogs of the National Lacrosse League. He is also an investor in Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles FC.

Beyond acquiring stakes in the Dolphins, Ares and Tsai are also buying interests in Hard Rock Stadium and the Miami Grand Prix, also owned by Dolphins owner Stephen Ross. Ross purchased the Dolphins for $1 billion in 2009 and plans to use proceeds from the minority sale to expand his real estate portfolio in South Florida. 

Though the Nets have struggled to break through, Tsai and his wife, Clara Wu Tsai, have transformed the Liberty from an afterthought in James Dolan’s portfolio to one of the most valuable teams in the WNBA. The Liberty won their first WNBA title in October, and the Tsais plan to build the team its own practice facility. 

Tsai has tried to get into NFL ownership before, as he was part of a Michael Rubin–led group to buy the Carolina Panthers in 2018. The team was ultimately sold to David Tepper. In June, Tsai sold a 15% stake in Barclays Sports and Entertainment, the Nets’ and Liberty’s parent company, to Julia Koch that values the franchises at more than $6 billion. Koch is the widow of longtime conservative donor David Koch and paid roughly $900 million for the share, which gave Tsai cash to buy the Dolphins stake.

Carter, McGrady, and Altidore are part of a group with Gridiron Capital managing partner Tom Burger for a minority stake in the Bills that would amount to 10.6%, according to the Associated Press. Gridiron Capital’s stake would equate to 1.4%. 

Both Carter and McGrady are Basketball Hall of Famers, and cousins, who played for the Toronto Raptors in the late ’90s. Carter’s career earnings are roughly $172 million after playing a record 22 seasons, which LeBron James tied this season. McGrady earned $162 million across 15 seasons. Altidore earned $42 million through his 10 years in MLS, but also played three seasons in Spain’s LaLiga. Carter has spent his post-playing career mainly as a broadcaster for ESPN and the YES Network, where he works on Nets broadcasts.