A sports world awash in Mideast money just got a new playing field: America’s most lucrative league is opening the door to new investors. On Aug. 27, National Football League owners approved a major rule change that allows private equity funds to buy up to 10% stakes in franchises.

This marks the first time institutional investors can snap up chunks of the NFL’s 32 teams, whose values have collectively soared by 710% over the past 20 years to reach $190 billion, according to Sportico. Strict ownership policies requiring a lead owner to control at least 30% of a team remain intact, but the move creates an unprecedented opening for wealthy Gulf states to target these prized US sports assets. 

For now, the NFL’s new rules still don’t allow direct investment from sovereign wealth funds, but they are allowed to invest in the private equity firms approved to purchase these stakes (although no individual or single investor may own more than 7.5% of any fund). This means Saudi Arabia’s $900 billion Public Investment Fund (PIF) could soon indirectly own a small part of your favorite NFL team, but plenty of obstacles could still prevent Gulf money from gushing into the league. 

The playing field