Who Owns Pro Sports Now? The Private Equity Map of the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS and Premier League
Private equity now sits on the cap tables of dozens of the most valuable teams in sports. In 2026 alone, Apollo put $2.6 billion into the New York Yankees, Arctos agreed to buy 10% of the Atlanta Falcons at a record $10.6 billion valuation, and Clearlake Capital took near-total control of Chelsea at roughly £5 billion.
Five years ago, most of these deals were not even allowed. Today every major U.S. league accepts institutional money, and the Premier League lets funds own clubs outright.
This is our league-by-league map of who is in, how much they own, what they paid, and what those teams are worth today. Where a stake size or price has never been made public, we say so rather than guess.
The rules of the game
Every U.S. league keeps funds in a passive, minority seat. The details differ, and they explain a lot about who invests where.
NFL: The strictest league. A fund can own 3% to 10% of a team, and all PE combined cannot top 10%. Only four approved groups may invest: Arctos, Ares, Sixth Street, and a consortium of Carlyle, Dynasty Equity and Ludis. Each can hold up to six teams and must stay at least six years.
MLB: The first league to open up, in 2019. A fund can own up to 15% of a team, a team can sell up to 30% to funds, and there is no limit on how many clubs a fund can own.
NBA: A fund can own up to 20% of a team, with 30% total per team. In December 2025 the league raised the limit to eight teams per fund.
NHL: Up to 20% per fund, 30% per team, five teams per fund, and a $20 million minimum check.
MLS: Up to 20% per fund, 30% per team, and four teams per fund.
Premier League: No cap at all. Funds can buy control, subject to the league's owners' and directors' test.
NFL: seven teams, four buyers
The NFL voted 31-1 to allow private equity in August 2024. Two years later, seven teams have taken institutional money, and entry prices have nearly doubled.
Arctos Partners, now owned by KKR, is the league's most active investor with four teams:
Buffalo Bills: 10%, approved December 2024 at about $5.8 billion. Sportico now values the Bills at $8.13 billion.
Los Angeles Chargers: 8%, approved May 2025 at a reported $5.3 billion. Now valued at $8.65 billion.
Cleveland Browns: About 3% at a $9 billion valuation in May 2026, the first of three tranches toward 10%. The money helps fund the Browns' planned $2.6 billion stadium. Sportico values the team at $8.6 billion.
Atlanta Falcons: 10% at a record $10.6 billion, agreed in August 2026 and bought in two stages. The Falcons are valued at $9.78 billion.
With four teams, Arctos has two of its six NFL slots left.
Ares Management owns about 10% of the Miami Dolphins, bought at $8.1 billion. The deal also included stakes in Hard Rock Stadium and the F1 Miami Grand Prix. The Dolphins are now valued at $10.25 billion.
Sixth Street holds about 3% of the New England Patriots, bought in 2025 at a valuation above $9 billion. The Patriots are worth $10.4 billion today.
The newest entry is the Seattle Seahawks. When the Khosla family closed its record $9.612 billion purchase in September 2026, Sixth Street took about 3%, and Carlyle and
Dynasty Equity together took about 3%. It was the first NFL deal for the Carlyle consortium, and it means Sixth Street now owns a piece of both teams from Super Bowl LX.
MLB: Arctos built it, Apollo supersized it
For five years, baseball's institutional market was largely one firm. Arctos holds undisclosed minority stakes in six clubs: the Dodgers (9.05billion),Cubs(6.48 billion), Giants (4.36billion),Astros(3.65 billion), Padres (3.1billion)andRedSox(6.65 billion), the last through parent Fenway Sports Group. RedBird Capital also owns about 11% of FSG, bought for roughly $750 million in 2021.
That changed in 2025. Sixth Street bought about 10% of the San Francisco Giants in March 2025, when the club was valued near $4.2 billion. The Giants said the money would go to Oracle Park, spring training facilities and the Mission Rock development, not player payroll.
Three more firms followed in 2026:
Sportsology Capital Partners bought an undisclosed minority stake in the Texas Rangers in February, its first U.S. league deal. Forbes values the Rangers at $2.7 billion.
Harbinger Sports Partners, led by Mark Cuban and Rashaun Williams, bought into the Athletics in July. CNBC reported a check of about $50 million at a $3.8 billion valuation that includes the new Las Vegas stadium.
Apollo Sports Capital made the biggest move of all: a $2.6 billion debt-and-equity deal with the New York Yankees' parent company in August. The New York Post reported Apollo's stake at about 16%, split between common and preferred shares, though the exact equity piece has not been officially confirmed. The Steinbrenners keep control, and Sportico values the Yankees at $9.4 billion.
One footnote: the Padres sold in 2026 at a record $3.9 billion to José Feliciano and Kwanza Jones. Feliciano co-founded Clearlake Capital, but this was a personal purchase, not a fund deal.
NBA: the most institutional league
Three firms sit in 12 NBA franchises, and the league has already produced private equity's best-known sports exit.
Arctos owns pieces of six teams. It was the first fund into the NBA, buying 5% of the Golden State Warriors in 2021 at about $5.5 billion and later raising that to 13%. Sportico now values the Warriors at 14.5billion. Arctos also owns about 17% of the Sacramento Kings (5.71 billion today), bought at a $1.8 billion valuation, plus stakes in the Grizzlies and, through their parent companies, the 76ers, Jazz and Wizards.
Blue Owl's Home Court fund is the only investor pre-approved for all 30 teams. It owns about 6% of the Atlanta Hawks, bought at roughly $2 billion, plus stakes in the Kings, Hornets and Timberwolves. In July 2026 it added the Cleveland Cavaliers, buying a reported 5% to 10% at a combined $5.5 billion for the Cavs and their future WNBA team. Its earlier Phoenix Suns stake returned a reported 158% when Mat Ishbia bought the team.
Sixth Street owns 20% of the San Antonio Spurs, bought for about $360 million in 2021. It also owns about 12.5% of the Boston Celtics as part of Bill Chisholm's $6.1 billion takeover in 2025. The Celtics are now valued at $8 billion and the Spurs at $5.3 billion.
NHL: an Arctos league
Arctos is effectively the only fund with disclosed NHL equity. Much of it comes through multi-team parent companies, so one check often buys exposure to an NBA and an NHL team at once.
Minnesota Wild: 10%, bought in 2022. Valued at $1.97 billion.
Tampa Bay Lightning: Arctos built a stake of about 30% in 2022 and 2023, then sold part of it in 2024 when Blue Owl co-CEOs Doug Ostrover and Marc Lipschultz agreed to take control at about $1.8 billion. They invested personally, not through Blue Owl. The Lightning are now valued at $2.2 billion.
New Jersey Devils, Washington Capitals and Utah Mammoth: Held through the same parent-company stakes that cover the 76ers, Wizards and Jazz. The Capitals came through Arctos's December 2025 investment in Monumental Sports & Entertainment.
Pittsburgh Penguins: Indirect, through Fenway Sports Group, which sold control to the Hoffmann family in 2026 at about $1.7 billion but kept a minority stake for now.
One deal to watch: the New York Islanders agreed in September 2026 to sell about 15% at a $3 billion valuation, well above Sportico's $2.7 billion estimate. The buyers have not been named.
MLS: smaller checks, creative structures
Institutional money in MLS is lighter and often structured differently from a simple stake purchase.
Inter Miami: Ares invested $150 million of preferred equity in 2021 and another $75 million in 2023. That is structured capital rather than a set percentage, and it has ridden Miami to the top of Sportico's list at $1.45 billion.
New York City FC: Silver Lake owns about 18% of parent City Football Group, giving it a slice of NYCFC ($1.12 billion) and Manchester City in one holding.
Portland Timbers: Arctos bought about 15% in 2022 at roughly $600 million. Sportico now values the club at $745 million.
Real Salt Lake: Arctos trimmed its roughly 12% stake to single digits when the Miller family bought control in 2025 for about $600 million, including the NWSL's Utah Royals.
Corporate capital is moving in too. Nationwide agreed in May 2026 to buy 37% of the Columbus Crew at a $900 million valuation.
Premier League: where funds take control
England has no cap on institutional ownership, and that changes the game. U.S. funds here can own clubs outright, buy into parent companies, or lend.
Chelsea is the clearest example. Clearlake Capital led the 2022 purchase at about £2.5 billion. In September 2026 it bought out Todd Boehly and Mark Walter for roughly £950 million, valuing the club at about £5 billion and lifting Clearlake's stake to roughly 87%. Forbes values Chelsea at $4.2 billion.
Elsewhere, institutional money comes in through minority or indirect stakes:
Liverpool: RedBird owns about 11% of Fenway Sports Group, and Arctos also holds an FSG stake. Dynasty Equity invested $100 million to $200 million directly in the club in 2023, about 2% to 4%. FSG is now in talks with a group led by Amit Bhatia, reportedly including Jeff Bezos, at more than $6 billion.
Manchester City: Silver Lake owns about 18% of City Football Group, which it first bought into in 2019 at a $4.8 billion group valuation.
Tottenham Hotspur: Eight Sports Capital bought 24.99% of ENIC, the club's parent, from Daniel Levy's family trust in June 2026 for an estimated £600 million. That works out to roughly 20% of Spurs, with no board seat.
Aston Villa: Comcast-backed Atairos owns about 20% of V Sports, the holding company of owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens.
Ipswich Town: Arizona's public safety pension fund, through manager ORG, and Bright Path Sports Partners together own most of the club. Bright Path paid £105 million for about 40% in 2024.
Leeds United: Controlled by 49ers Enterprises, the investment arm of the San Francisco 49ers, with Red Bull among its minority investors.
Nottingham Forest: Apollo lent the club £80 million in 2025. That is debt, not ownership.
Newcastle United is the outlier: Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, a sovereign wealth fund, owns about 85%.
The firms to know
Arctos Partners (KKR): The biggest institutional owner in North American sports, with stakes in 24 teams across all five leagues plus Liverpool through FSG. KKR bought the firm in February 2026.
Sixth Street: Patriots, Seahawks, Giants, Celtics and Spurs, plus NWSL's Bay FC.
Blue Owl HomeCourt: The NBA specialist, in the Hawks, Cavaliers, Kings, Hornets and Timberwolves.
Ares Management: Dolphins, Inter Miami, and lending to Chelsea.
Apollo Sports Capital: The Yankees, a loan to Nottingham Forest, and a stated interest in the NFL.
Silver Lake and RedBird: Exposure through multi-club parents, City Football Group and Fenway Sports Group.
Clearlake Capital: The only PE fund controlling a Premier League club.
Carlyle and Dynasty Equity: Seahawks, and Liverpool for Dynasty.
New entrants: Sportsology (Rangers), Harbinger (Athletics), Atairos (Aston Villa), Eight Sports Capital (Tottenham) and Bright Path (Ipswich).
What it means
Institutional capital is no longer an experiment in sports. It is how owners raise money for stadiums, buy out partners, and set new valuation marks without giving up control.
Three things stand out. Prices keep climbing: NFL entry valuations rose from about $5.8 billion to $10.6 billion in under two years. The money is getting bigger: Apollo's Yankees deal dwarfs earlier checks. And Europe is where funds take the wheel, while U.S. leagues keep them in the passenger seat.
We expect more deals soon. Arctos has two NFL slots left, Liverpool and the Islanders have stakes in motion, and the Browns have two more tranches to sell.
Want to meet the people behind these deals? Join us at an upcoming SBL event or the SBL Summit in Philadelphia, July 20–21, 2027.
Team values are Sportico's 2026 estimates for U.S. leagues and Forbes' May 2026 estimates for the Premier League. Deal terms come from published reporting and are often reported rather than officially confirmed.
