49ers Close to Selling Stake: Bay Area Families Set to Take Control
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — As per
San Francisco 49ers
Owner Jed York has mentioned that people with interest have been reaching out to his family “almost every week” trying to purchase a part of the 97% stake in the team that the Yorks possess.
This week, apparently, three groups interested in purchasing from the York family presented offers deemed suitable. A league insider reports that the 49ers are currently negotiating to finalize the sale of over 6% of the franchise shares to three local Bay Area families.
Sportico, who initially broke the news about the impending sale on Thursday morning, mentioned that these transactions will occur with each franchise being valued at over $8.5 billion. Should the agreement go through at this price point, it would mark the highest valuation ever recorded for a sports team in such an arrangement.
According to The Athletic’s report on Thursday afternoon, the Khosla family bought 3.1%, the Deeter family acquired 2.1%, and the Griffith family obtained 1%.
It’s anticipated that the NFL will officially sanction these transactions during their upcoming spring owner meetings in Minneapolis next week. The San Francisco 49ers have chosen not to provide any comments regarding the suggested sales as of Thursday.
Although the Niners have fielded numerous offers over recent months, York stated during the league meetings in March that his clan was contemplating selling up to 10% of their shareholding. He then referred to this as an “allocation choice within the family,” influenced by the individual preferences and requirements of different relatives.
“As one of these situations where we’d look into opportunities that align well, should they arise, our stance remains open-ended at this point,” York stated back then. “However, if such chances come about, we aim to connect with suitable individuals capable of strengthening all aspects of our operations both on and off the field. It’s crucial for us to secure reliable allies who stand alongside us.”
The three mentioned purchasers all come from venture capital backgrounds. Vinod Khosla is the co-founder of Sun Microsystems and founded Khosla Ventures located in Menlo Park. Byron Deeter serves as a partner at Bessemer Venture Partners with offices in both Redwood City and San Francisco, whereas William Griffith works as a partner at Iconiq Capital based solely in San Francisco.
In other news related to franchises, the
Los Angeles Chargers
we are seeking permission to sell an 8% equity stake in the team to a private investment firm.
The Los Angeles Times noted
citing an individual familiar with the approval request detailed in a memorandum sent to NFL team owners.
According to the newspaper, Chargers owner Dean Spanos along with his siblings Michael Spanos and Alexis Spanos Ruhl plan to offer their shares of the franchise for sale to the private investment firm Arctos during the upcoming NFL team owners meetings.