The NFL is the last major sports league in the US to allow investment by PE. The NFL says this is the best way to deal with the soaring prices of professonal sports teams. With the 10% cap on the investment, I figure the owners are seeing a way to monitize the team, while retaining control, and thus inflate the value of the owner’s share.
Has it occurred to anyone, that maybe the team valuations are idiotic, with Billionaire owners, millionaire players, playing a dumb game?
I agree Steve, those idiotic teams are all over valued. But Dallas, now Dallas is America’s team, and that is always undervalued.
Sorry, Steve, you’re outvoted. Football is a very popular game. If it weren’t then there wouldn’t be the money available to pay the high salaries. Start/promote a league to play, say, lacrosse and see how many fans you attract and what you could pay the players.
DB2
True. It’s also a cartel, keeping supply low and excluding anyone who wants to start their own team from participating. We’ve seen them shove aside the AFL (until they couldn’t) and USFL and others who wanted to bring more teams for more cities, but they never will.
Keeping absolute control of the inventory of a desirable product is a key measure of rent seeking, and the club owners are masters at it.
MLB goes on expansion blitzes from time to time. More teams are used to create more divisions, so more layers of “playoffs” can be created, to milk the “playoff” hype.
Steve
It will be a very cold day in a mythical place, when private equity is able to gain control of the true America’s team, the Green Bay Packers!
Oh so you are saying the Pack is Back?
The buy-ins have begun. I’m curious to see what effect, if any, PE has on the business of professional football, as it’s already a cash-generating behemoth.
Professional football ownership would be a good investment as the supply (number of teams) grows much slower than the increase in the number of billionaires.
DB2
Must be onset of old age, but I don’t have much interest in CFB unless one of the in-State teams is in the mix, and even then just casual interest.
But Private Equity knows that there is a near insatiable appetite for college football in America. People that didn’t even go to these schools ( subway alum ? ) are seemingly willing to pay any price for game tickets and school colors type stuff. CFB is now outwardly Minor League Football for the NFL ( always has been, but at least now college players are openly paid ).
One thing I’m pretty sure about, Private Equity will drive prices higher and higher for the fans. Will be interesting to see what level of prices for tickets and TV viewing access will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. No end in sight, so far, for the fervent followers of college football.
I have noticed that. There were a lot of rabid U of M football fans where I worked, who never set foot on that, or any other college campus, to take a class.
On the local news a day or two back. Owners of the Lions are exploiting the team’s good season. They raised ticket prices last year, after the team’s first above 500 season in years. They just announced the prices for next season. A season ticket that cost $2200 in 2019, will now cost $5600. …but, we were told, only a few weeks ago, that no-one can afford eggs or gas?
We never left. 567890
JimA
