NFL’s Potential PE Partners Just Getting Started in Sports
Irwin Kishner, co-chair of Herrick's Sports Law Group, was quoted in an article in Sportico discussing the potential NFL owners' vote to allow private equity firms to become part owners in football franchises. The article outlines the NFL's potential private equity partners, which reportedly have $2.2 trillion in assets under management across over 2,000 portfolio holdings.
The article further notes that "should the NFL permit PE to invest in its clubs, it probably wouldn't even double sports assets for the group: The league has discussed limiting PE stakes in clubs to 10% ownership or less, compared to 30% for the other major North American leagues."
“You can describe it as a drop in the bucket, as you have so aptly done, but a lot of drops start coming and you get a puddle,” said Irwin. “Sports, live sports programming and gambling rights associated with that are a tremendous value proposition, where smart money sees opportunity to achieve the returns that they are looking to achieve. It’s still big numbers.”
Read the full article in Sportico here. Access may require a subscription.