September 9, 2024
Bears may be early target for private equity The first firms through the breach may start with underperformers, like a popular team that keeps dwelling in the standings cellar
Majority-Black towns that are already struggling face a relentless cycle that perpetuates the inequities of taxation and limits economic growth | PAGE 31
PHOTOS BY CASSANDRA WEST
A taxing situation
The National Football League, the premier sports league in the U.S., will allow institutional investors, including private equity firms, to take up to 10% stakes in their teams, after lagging well behind Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association. The NFL plans to move slowly on this front — among other things, prospective institutional owners will be limited to at most a 10% stake and at least a 3% stake, and will have to keep their ownership interests for at least six years. The first firms through this breach may see the Chicago Bears as a prime target to plant their flag. Shana Orczyk Sissel, founder, president and chief executive officer of Banríon Capital Management, an alternative asset technology platform, said private equity firms may initially target underperforming clubs — like her hometown Bears — rather than the more highly-valued teams like the Cowboys or New England Patriots. The Bears have had only one winning season in the past 10 years. Similar to an undervalued and underperforming company targeted by a private equity firm, she said, the Bears might be a very appealing candidate for an alternatives firm looking to enter the NFL, given the team’s long history, huge popularity, as well as the large population of its home base. A quick injection of capital would likely assist in the team’s effort to get a new stadium built, be it on the city’s lakefront or in the suburbs. After a heavy lobbying
BLOOMBERG
By Palash Ghosh and Arleen Jacobius, Pensions & Investments
The Bears have had only one winning season in the past 10 years — similar to an undervalued and underperforming company targeted by a private equity firm. effort and winning over Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson on a $3.2 billion domed stadium next to where Soldier Field currently stands, the team has yet to move the ball forward an inch in Springfield to secure public subsidies. The Bears’ current owner, 101-year-old Virginia McCaskey, could have another incentive to sell that dates back to how she took control of the club. Before his death, her father George Halas, the team’s founder See BEARS on Page 39
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