Dolphins Owner Ross in Talks to Sell Minority Stakes to PE Firm Ares, Nets Owner Tsai

Stephen Ross completed his purchase of 95% of the Miami Dolphins and the team’s home stadium for $1 billion in 2009. Fifteen years later, the billionaire real estate magnate is close to offloading 13% of the team, Hard Rock Stadium, and the Miami Grand Prix—at a valuation of that slice nearly identical to what Ross paid for the whole thing. 

Ares Management and Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai are in advanced negotiations to acquire 10% of the team and 3% of the team, respectively, a source with knowledge of the discussions told Front Office Sports.

The deal would value the team, stadium, and the Miami Grand Prix at $8.1 billion. Bloomberg was first to report the team’s talks with Ares’s and Tsai’s interest in the Dolphins. 

Ares could become the first firm to take advantage of the NFL’s new stance on private equity investment, approved by owners Aug. 27, that allows PE firms to buy as much as 10% of a franchise. 

Over the next two months, the NFL finance committee will consider around a half-dozen private equity investments around the league, the source said. After the finance committee reviews the proposals, they go before a full ownership vote, with at least three-quarters needed for approval. 

NFL owners will meet this month and again in December, so the Dolphins deal will likely not become official until December at the earliest. 

Ross is expected to put the money from the minority sale into two major endeavors: his Relevent Sports Group that negotiates European soccer rights deals with North American outlets, and his real estate portfolio in South Florida, especially in Palm Beach County. 

Private equity companies have no pathway to any control under the NFL’s 10% stake cap. Tsai would not have first-refusal rights if Ross sells his majority stake in the team to someone else under the framework of the deal, the source said. 

Ross, 84, has already signaled he wants to pass the Dolphins to his daughter Jennifer.