San Francisco 49ers are exploring the sale of a 10% participation to an assessment of more than US $ 9,000 millionaccording to people familiar with the matter, which could make it one of the most expensive sports teams in the world.
It is not clear if the 49ers will choose to find a company of private capital to buy participation, or other investors, As a rich individual or a family, people said, who asked not to be identified since the information is private.
The deliberations are ongoing and there is no certainty that they lead to a transaction. A 49ers representative declined to comment.
The NFL has seen a transaction streak after the approval of private capital groups to invest in franchises last year. The League has encouraged teams that are interested in selling participations, which is promoting the valuations. The income from the sale of shares could help teams build or renew stadiums and provide liquidity to their owners.
The owner of the Philadelphia Eagles, Jeffrey Lurie, studied the possibility of selling to a risk capital fund before opting for high purchasing power investors. These transactions valued the club at US $ 8.3 billion. Stephen Ross’s Miami Dolphins reached an assessment of US $ 8.1 billion after selling participations to Ares Management and Joe Tsai, co -founder of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and owner of the Brooklyn Nets.
The Buffalo Bills sold participations to arctos and other limited partners. The club’s assessment was not revealed. Like the 49ers, the New York Giants hired Moelis & Co. to sell a minority participation in the team.
The 49ers are owned by Jed York, who has served as executive director of the team for more than a decade and became its main owner in March 2024 after buying shares from his family. York said to ESPN At that moment that his family It has about 97% of the club.
York’s uncle Edward J. Debartolo Mr., originally bought the team in 1977 for US $ 13 million. When Debartolo died in 1994, the team passed to his sister Denise Debartolo York, who is Jed York’s mother. Denise Debartolo York has an estimated net worth of some 6,300 million, according to the Bloomberg billionaire index.
With the York, the 49ers have won five Super Bowls, tied in the second place in history. Outside the United States, the team’s business arm, 49ers Enterprises, bought the English Football Club Leeds United in 2023.
