Chelsea investor Ares Capital is in talks with the owner of the Miami Dolphins to become the first private equity firm to buy a stake in an NFL franchise.
The New York-headquartered asset manager is negotiating the purchase of a 10 per cent stake in the Dolphins’ parent company, according to multiple reports.
The deal would value the company at around $8bn and also include the team’s Hard Rock Stadium and Formula 1’s Miami Grand Prix.
NFL owners voted to permit the sale of minority stakes to private equity firms under very specific conditions two months ago.
Ares Capital is among a short list of investors that the league pre-approved, along with PE titan CVC, Paris Saint-Germain minority owner Arctos Partners, FC Barcelona backer Sixth Street and others.
The company injected $500m into Chelsea last year in a preferred equity deal and has raised almost $4bn for investing in sports properties. It has around $450bn in assets under management.
The Miami Dolphins are owned by billionaire Stephen Ross, who bought the team in 2009 for a shade over $1bn. They are now estimated to be worth close to $7bn.
The popularity of the Miami Grand Prix has been a factor. Revenue from ticket sales for this year’s race exceeded that for all Dolphins home games.
Ross previously held talks about selling a stake to hedge fund manager Ken Griffin, who was part of a rival bid to buy Chelsea when Roman Abramovich sold to the incumbent Todd Boehly-Clearlake consortium.
Relevent Sports Group, which was behind the International Champions Cup brand of pre-season matches and now helps leagues to sell their international media rights, is also owned by Ross.
