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Front Office Sports - The Memo

Sunday Edition

September 7, 2025

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One year since the NFL enacted its private-equity policy, only a trio of teams have taken on investors, and the common theme is selectivity and caution. Still, the early returns have been positive, and the league is calling PE a “tremendous success.” Meanwhile, with Week 1 barely hitting its stride, the NFL is already tightening its grip on global expansion—and TV dominance. 

—Ben Horney and Eric Fisher

Slow Burn: The NFL’s Private-Equity Era So Far

Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

The NFL became the last of the major U.S. pro leagues to accept private-equity investment when owners voted 31–1 last summer to approve a policy that allows firms to buy minority stakes. The Bengals were the only team to vote against the policy.

One year later, though the league hasn’t exactly experienced a PE takeover, three teams—the Dolphins, Bills, and Chargers—have added investors. The league is touting its policy as a win.

The NFL’s guidelines are pretty restrictive. For starters, only a select group of PE firms has been approved to invest: Arctos Partners, Ares Management, Sixth Street Partners, 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. 

Additionally, PE stakes in NFL teams are completely passive. Firms get no voting power, governance rights, or influence in decision-making. The league requires a minimum of six years for PE investment and can force the sale of an equity stake if a firm violates these terms.

PE firms can own up to only 10% of a team, and if more than one firm wants to buy a stake in the same franchise, their collective stake cannot exceed 10%. That’s different from the other major U.S. leagues; the NBA, NHL, and MLS all cap a team’s collective private-equity ownership at 30%; MLB caps it at 20%. Individual PE funds can buy up to 20% stakes in NBA, NHL, and MLS teams, and 15% in MLB teams.

The only firms that have reached deals are Arctos, which took 10% stakes in the Bills and Chargers, and Ares, which purchased a 10% stake in the Dolphins.

Still, as the 2025–26 season kicks off, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy tells Front Office Sports the policy has been a “tremendous success.”

“Private investment has provided clubs additional financial liquidity to invest in their stadiums and grow the game at home and abroad,” he says. 

FOS reached out to all 32 NFL teams, as well as the league-approved PE firms, to get their takes on how the policy has worked thus far. Representatives for the Browns and Colts tell FOS they have not considered any PE investment. The Colts are “supportive of the private-equity policy.” The Chargers, Falcons, Cardinals, Cowboys, Vikings, and Giants declined to comment. Many teams did not respond. Carlyle and Sixth Street declined to comment, while all the other PE firms did not respond.

A source familiar with the Cowboys’ thinking says the team has not considered or had conversations with any PE investors. Jerry Jones has previously said “this is a win for the game.” 

While most teams have stayed silent, the few public statements reinforce that outside investment is still selective and cautious, and the views of a number of team owners are clear from previous public comments. 

Vikings owner Mark Wilf said last November that the team is “very supportive” of the policy but was not considering taking on PE investment. “For a lot of franchises, the liquidity is … really helpful,” he said. He added that he believes PE money is going to be “good for sports in general.” 

Chiefs owner Clark Hunt said in February that his family was not actively exploring PE investment, although he is supportive of the policy, having been on the special exploratory committee that commissioner Roger Goodell appointed. 

The consistent mantra is that while many teams are not actively considering private-equity investment, there is plenty of support for the policy. That’s no surprise given the overwhelming vote to approve it.

Still, questions remain. John Hutcheson and Ivo Voynov, who lead Citi’s sports advisory and financing group, told FOS earlier this year that while the trend of private-equity investment in sports should generally continue to grow, leagues and funds are still grappling with the exit piece.

“All these private-equity funds ultimately need to generate liquidity for [limited partners],” Voynov said. 

“The exit piece is the riddle that hasn’t been solved,” said Hutcheson. “It’s easy to get in, but it’s not yet entirely clear how you get out.”

The NFL doesn’t seem concerned. Franchise valuations soared in the trio of equity sales for the Bills ($5.8 billion), Chargers ($5.3 billion), and Dolphins ($8.1 billion). 

As for when and how the league might expand its PE policy, McCarthy is staying mum. “We are not going to provide our playbook,” he tells FOS.

How Brazil Game Fits Into NFL’s Plans for World Domination

Dec 21, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) gets ready to take the field prior to a game against the Houston Texans at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.

Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

Everything about Friday night’s Chiefs-Chargers game in São Paulo, Brazil was big by design—and could dramatically alter the NFL’s path to worldwide dominance.

Despite the league’s fast-growing ambition to become a truly global brand and even consider a London Super Bowl, the overseas matchups have often been played at suboptimal times for U.S. viewers, feature lesser teams, and occasionally run into operational issues.

But the return to South America featured the NFL’s most-watched team in Kansas City, with a star tight end in Travis Kelce who is newly engaged to Taylor Swift, the biggest pop star on the planet and a possible Super Bowl LX halftime performer. The Chargers are a heated division rival and a widespread pick to return to the playoffs. 

Most significantly, the game was shown globally for free on YouTube—a big shift from last year’s subscription-based airing for the NFL’s first Brazil game involving the Eagles and Packers, which averaged 14.2 million viewers on Peacock. This time it was accessible to anyone in the world with an internet connection.

It’s about far more than the on-field product, however. Having already established a foothold in Europe, the league views Brazil as a foremost means of opening up all of South America. The continent has nearly 440 million people, and the league estimates that more than 36 million people in Brazil alone identify as American football fans, presenting a sizable marketing and economic opportunity. 

For more on the latest chapter in the NFL’s global takeover, read the full story here.

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TV Ratings Just Changed Again. The NFL Will Be the Big Winner

Oct 13, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) and wide receiver A.J. Brown (11) celebrate their touchdown pass during the second quarter against the Cleveland Browns at Lincoln Financial Field.

Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

Just days before the start of the 2025 season for the NFL, the most dominant source of programming across all of U.S. television, a new method for counting broadcast audiences arrived.

Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel—its newly expanded methodology for viewership—is the latest change to how Nielsen operates, following the introduction of out-of-home measurement in 2020, and a subsequent expansion of that metric early this year. As expected, those prior shifts solidified sports as a critical driver for the entire TV industry—due in no small part to substantial group viewing of live games in settings such as bars, restaurants, hotels, and transit hubs.

An even larger impact is expected this time around, and the NFL—which last year claimed 70 of the 100 most-watched events in U.S. television—will be a big beneficiary. Big Data + Panel could help produce a lift of about 1 million additional viewers per game this season, following a 17% audience lift during the preseason.

“Sports is the most important category we measure because, by and large, it’s the highest-value content out there,” Nielsen SVP Brian Fuhrer tells Front Office Sports. “Advertisers are clearly very interested in it. It’s also the most complicated to measure, because unlike a lot of entertainment programming, it doesn’t have a set time [in game lengths].”

The biggest issue with the new system could be the additional time required to collect the far larger set of data, and arrive at final viewership figures. In the case of Amazon’s Thursday Night Football games, the delay could stretch as long as four days when also accounting for the weekends. But there is a consensus that the more reliable data will be worth the wait.

“There’s going to be a bit of a lag, but I think everybody’s really leaned in and said, ‘Yeah, O.K., this is still going to be worthwhile,’” Fuhrer says. “Everybody’s on board with the new structure. It’s about using the right number at the right time.”

For more on the implications of Nielsen’s new TV ratings system, read the full story here.

Week 1 Headlines

Brady Still Has Conflict of Interest. NFL Is Clearly Unconcerned

by Daniel Roberts
The league doesn’t see an issue with Brady being a minority owner.

NFL Says ‘RedZone’ Will Have ‘Incredibly Small Ad Load’ Amid Furor

by Daniel Roberts and David Rumsey
Ads on “RedZone” will match the two-box format of last December’s test.

Giants Sell Minority Stake to Kochs at Reported $10B Valuation

by Ben Horney
It’s the latest in a flurry of minority-stake deals for NFL teams.
Advertise Awards Learning Events Video Shows
Written by Ben Horney, Eric Fisher
Edited by Peter Richman, Meredith Turits, Catherine Chen

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