The San Francisco 49ers have decided to sell a 6% stake in the franchise which is reportedly worth $8.5billion – a new record valuation in the league.
San Francisco 49ers selling 6% stake
San Francisco owners, the York family, plan on selling a large stake in their franchise to three separate buyers from the Bay Area this summer.
The potential sale would value the 49ers at $8.5billion, which eclipses the previous valuation of San Francisco made by Forbes last year ($6.8bn).
At time of valuation last year, the 49ers were the sixth-highest valued team in the league. An $8.6bn valuation would have the 49ers as the highest valued team in the league, after the Eagles were given an $8.3bn value in December.
The news doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone in the NFL, with San Francisco’s owner Jed York admitting that his family planned on selling a large stake of the team back in March.
“It’s just one of those things where if there’s an opportunity that makes sense, we would always explore that,” York said. “But I’m not sure what we’re going to end up doing.
“And if we do, we would try to find the right people who would help bolster everything that we’re doing in and around the team, on the field, off the field, and just make sure that we had good partners that are with us.”
The organization will sell 3.1% to the Khosla family, 2.1% to the Deeter family and 1% to the Griffith family.
Other NFL teams planning on selling
The 49ers aren’t the only team in the NFL planning on selling part of their stake, with the Cleveland Browns and Los Angeles Chargers also planning an upcoming sale.
The Chargers are hoping to sell 8% of the team and after speaking to numerous suitors they have reportedly settled on a deal with Arctos. Although a deal seems likely, Los Angeles has only just submitted the proposal to the league’s finance committee.
As well as the Chargers and 49ers, the Cleveland Browns also have hopes of selling a minority stake this year – albeit much less than the other two franchises.
NFL Hall of Famer Charles Woodson has agreed to a 0.1% stake in the franchise with the deal pending broadcast restrictions for the current analyst on FOX.
