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Josh Harris and David Blitzer will enter the upcoming season owning a piece of just one NFL team.
Commanders majority owner Harris and co-owner Blitzer sold their stake that totaled less than 5% of the Steelers and the NFL owners approved the transaction earlier this year, a source with knowledge of the deal told Front Office Sports. Their slice of the team was acquired by an investor group led by Steelers controlling owner Art Rooney II and billionaire businessman Thomas Tull, who already had a minority interest in the franchise.
Financial terms of the deal were not available to FOS at the time of publication. The Steelers were valued at $4.625 billion by Forbes last August.
Harris led an ownership group that paid $6.05 billion for the Commanders, a record transaction that was approved by NFL owners in July 2023. NFL rules prevent cross-ownership, although the NFL gave Harris and Blitzer time to offload their interest in the Steelers the duo acquired for an undisclosed sum in 2020.
Beyond the Commanders, Harris and Blitzer co-own the Philadelphia 76ers, the New Jersey Devils, and the Premier League’s Crystal Palace Football Club.
The Steelers’ minority sale came as NFL owners have worked on guidelines for private equity investment in the league’s teams. Currently, the NFL is the only major U.S. sport that bans institutional investment in franchises. Harris and Blitzer both made their billions in private equity, with Harris cofounding finance giant Apollo and Blitzer still working as an executive at Blackstone.
The rules that govern institutional investors—including a 10% ownership cap—could be ready for a vote at a special NFL owners meeting next Tuesday, a source previously told FOS.
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