The NFL was the last major North American pro sports league to crack its doors open to private-equity investment. Less than two years later, one of its four PE-backed teams is headed to the Super Bowl.

The Patriots sold a 3% stake to private-equity firm Sixth Street in September at a valuation north of $9 billion. They’ll take on the Seahawks at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday. (The Seahawks are rumored to be the next NFL team that will be sold, and they could be put up for sale soon after the Super Bowl.) New England was the fourth—and most recent—team to take on a private-equity investor since the league formally approved a new policy allowing minority stakes in August 2024. 

Robert Kraft remains the majority owner of the Patriots; as part of the same announcement that featured Sixth Street, New England revealed a separate 5% stake had been sold to Greek American billionaire Dean Metropoulos.

Their appearance in the Super Bowl doesn’t suggest private equity played any role on the field. But it does mark a symbolic milestone for a once-controversial ownership structure that the NFL long resisted, even as other major leagues embraced institutional capital.

Under current NFL rules, PE firms can acquire minority stakes of up to 10% in teams, subject to strict limits on influence, governance, and exit options. Stakes must be held at least six years, and the league has the right to require a firm to sell its equity stake if terms are violated.

“There’s all sorts of parameters around how they can participate,” Michael Rueda, head of U.S. sports and entertainment at international law firm Withers, tells Front Office Sports.

Sixth Street is a major player in the sports world, with seven total pro sports franchise investments. Before the Patriots, the firm went in on the then-record $6.1 billion acquisition of the Celtics, led by Bill Chisholm (that record was broken a few months later when Mark Walter—and his business partner Todd Boehly—bought the Lakers at a $10 billion valuation). It also owns a stake in the NBA’s Spurs and MLB’s Giants, as well as soccer teams Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, and Bay FC.

In addition to the Patriots, the Chargers, Dolphins, and Bills have received private-equity investment since the new policy was implemented. Sixth Street’s is the smallest PE stake of the four deals—Arctos Partners, which is in talks to be acquired by KKR, previously purchased 10% stakes in both the Bills and Chargers, while Ares Management acquired a 10% stake in the Dolphins.

The investments come as franchise valuations continue to climb. With regard to the PE deals, the Patriots led the pack with their valuation of more than $9 billion, followed by the Dolphins ($8.1 billion), the Bills ($5.8 billion), and the Chargers ($5.3 billion).

“It’s like an elevator that everyone wants to get in, and everyone hopes it keeps going up,” says one legal industry source who advised on at least one of the NFL private-equity minority investments. “Every time a deal is announced, you wake up the next morning and the team is worth more.”

Although the NFL opened up to private-equity investment, it did so in a limited way. Only a select group of firms was preapproved to invest: Sixth Street, Arctos, Ares, and a consortium that includes Carlyle Group, Dynasty Equity, and Ludis, the latter of which was founded and is led by Pro Football Hall of Famer Curtis Martin. Blackstone Partners and CVC Capital were originally part of that consortium, but in May they removed themselves from the group. 

The NFL has remained coy about when it might loosen its rules and allow for additional firms to enter the fray, telling FOS in September “we are not going to provide our playbook.” 

But there’s no question additional firms will want in, and teams will be willing to sell minority stakes to obtain liquidity. KKR could become the next firm that invests in NFL teams if it ends up reaching a deal for Arctos (such a transaction would require sign-off from all the leagues in which Arctos holds minority stakes in teams, including the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL). According to two sources in the investment banking industry, the NFL could still accept investment from a firm that was not among the preapproved groups; it would just be more complicated.

“It’s a New York City co-op board,” one source says. “That’s how you should think about these leagues. They can change the rules and do whatever they want.”

A legal dispute among members of the family who owns the Padres has been largely resolved. The development comes as the sale process for the MLB team appears to be ramping up.

Sheel Seidler, the widow of former Padres chairman Peter Seidler, has dropped most of the claims in the lawsuit she filed last January against her brothers-in-law who run the team, Bob and Matt Seidler (their other brother, John, is now executive chair of the Padres and was not a defendant in the suit). 

The petition, filed in Texas state court, alleged fraud, gross negligence, and racism against Sheel, who is of Indian descent. It said that Peter had expected his brothers would “zealously protect and promote Sheel’s interests,” but that instead they “immediately began pursuing their own objectives and self-enrichment.”

In a subsequent social media post on Jan. 6, 2025, Sheel had described the suit as a “last resort.” She has not posted anything about the latest update in the case.

The parties have reached an “agreement to resolve” most of the claims, according to the Monday filing, although two remain: breach of duty to distribute and demand for accounting. The former alleges that Bob and Matt have not made adequate payments as required under a trust from her late husband, who died in 2023; the latter demands a “complete accounting” of the brothers’ actions as executors of the Seidler family trusts.

Amid the suit, the Padres announced in November they had hired merchant bank BDT & MSD Partners to advise on a potential sale of all or part of the franchise.

The legal development could have implications for the process. The clearing of most of the claims in the lawsuit may signal that deal talks are ramping up, according to Irwin Kishner, co-chair of the sports law group at Herrick Feinstein LLP. Although he notes prospective buyers will likely feel more comfortable once the remaining two claims are also addressed.

“It’s not impossible to conduct a sale with something like this going on,” Kishner tells Front Office Sports. “But most buyers, unless they’re going to get a discount, are much better off going in with all these issues resolved.”

Reports indicate that the reduced uncertainty is helping move the sale process forward. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that executives for the team and league are “in the process of presenting the team’s financials to prospective buyers.” According to Sportico, those prospective buyers include Dan Friedkin, who owns English Premier League soccer club Everton and Italian Serie A soccer team AS Roma through Pursuit Sports, and José E. Feliciano, cofounder of investment giant Clearlake Capital, which has invested in Premier League club Chelsea. Warriors owner Joe Lacob has also reportedly shown interest in the Padres.

The Padres have an estimated value of $1.95 billion, according to Forbes, which puts them 17th in MLB. A sale could very well value them higher than that—the Twins, which Forbes values at $1.5 billion, recently sold two minority stakes at a valuation of about $1.75 billion.

Representatives for all the parties involved in the lawsuit, the Padres, and BDT did not immediately respond to requests for comment.