This is the closest we could get in the NFL to Bears vs. Bulls. (Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Weird Money

NFL franchises and PE firms are a match made in heaven

The two may solve each other's liquidity issues.

Jack Raines

8/20/24 2:45PM

Earlier this week, Bloomberg reported that the NFL is meeting on August 27 to “discuss and potentially vote on allowing institutional investors to buy into teams,” and the NFL hired PJT Partners to “assess private equity interest.”

Assuming that a deal were to come together, it makes a ton of sense for both team owners and private equity firms. The reason? NFL teams are really, really, expensive, and private equity firms need somewhere to invest their capital.

There are 32 NFL franchises, and the average franchise is worth $5.1 billion, up from $423 million (or $773 million in 2023 dollars) in 2000. The NFL requires the majority owner of a team to own a 30% stake in the franchise, which means $1.5 billion, on average. There aren’t that many people who can afford to purchase an NFL team. If we assume that an owner wouldn’t want to spend more than 30% of their own wealth on an NFL franchise, only 214 billionaires in America worth $5.1 billion or more would fit the bill. Taking into account that only some percentage of them would have any interest in owning an NFL team, and that market shrinks even further.

Meanwhile, as noted in my other private equity piece, PE firms are raising more than they know what to do with, and they need assets in which they can invest billions of dollars. NFL franchises are cash-generating machines (18 franchises made more than $100 million in operating income in 2023, and all made more than $50 million), and previous discussions between team owners raised the possibility of institutional investors buying 10% to 30% stakes in companies. A 10% stake in the NFL’s least valuable franchise, the Bengals, would cost $350 million, giving these funds a much-needed destination for their cash and providing interested owners with sought-after liquidity.

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Chris Stokel-Walker17h

Max Knoblauch19h

Ford joins GM in backing off of its EV tax credit extension plan following GOP criticism

Ford, despite benefiting from an electric sales surge in recent months, is giving up on a clever accounting plan to extend the expired $7,500 EV tax credit to some of its customers.

Like its rival GM earlier this week, Ford on Thursday night confirmed to Reuters that it will not claim the tax credit, backing off from its short-lived leasing strategy.

The automakers’ plan was to extend the subsidy by using their financial arms to put down payments on electric vehicles already on their dealers’ lots in late September. Those transactions would qualify for the credit, and Ford and GM could pass the discount on to customers through leases.

But the strategy angered GOP senators, who last week wrote a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent accusing the automakers of “bilking” taxpayers.

Ford CEO Jim Farley last month said he expects the end of the tax credit to cut EV sales in half.

Exclusive: Ford reverses plan to claim EV tax credits, following GM

But the strategy angered GOP senators, who last week wrote a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent accusing the automakers of “bilking” taxpayers.

Ford CEO Jim Farley last month said he expects the end of the tax credit to cut EV sales in half.

Tom Jones

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Porsche’s problems in China just keep getting worse

Sales in the region fell by more than a fifth in Q3.

Vintage Paint-Chipped Silver Porsche Speedster

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10/9/25

Delta, boosted by premium ticket sales, says customers who go Comfort+ don’t go back

Delta’s third-quarter revenue beat Wall Street estimates on Thursday, led by 9% growth in its premium ticket category.

Tom Jones10/9/25

Domino’s just announced its first rebrand in 13 years — maybe a new, “doughier” font will help sales pick up

Shaboozey! Domino’s Sans! Hotter colors as a nod to the melty heat of a pizza pulled fresh from the oven!

In a buzzword-laden justification of its rebrand yesterday, Domino’s laid plain its new aesthetic direction, coined the term “Cravemark,” and announced it would be bringing the focus back to its food, having (at least in its executive vice president’s words) become known as “a technology company that happens to sell pizza” over the last decade.

It can’t go any worse than Cracker Barrel’s refresh efforts, at least...

The raft of changes, which will roll out across the US and other international markets in the coming months, includes a new “audio and visual expression” of the brand’s name (throwing a few extra M’s on the boxes and getting country/hip-hop artist Shaboozey to elongate the letter in a jingle); brighter packaging and hotter colors; “more youthful” team uniforms (company-color Salomons and an apron with “pizza is brat” on it, maybe?); and a new “Domino’s Sans” font, which is “thicker and doughier” and has circles and semicircles “in nod to pizza, with lots of personality baked right in!”

Domino’s is down about 2% so far this year.

Domino's® New Craveable Brand Refresh Makes You Say "Mmm" | Domino's Pizza