Anyone who concludes that the NFL is somehow dwindling in popularity should probably take a gander at the economic make up of North America’s largest professional sports league.
Let’s take the Carolina Panthers as the most-recent case study. Forced to sell the team due to a workplace misconduct scandal, owner and co-founder Jerry Richardson is currently taking offers from multiple suitors. In fact, one could say a bidding war has taken hold.
According to Bloomberg, bids for the Panthers’ franchise could eclipse a whopping $2.5 billion.
“The price of the Carolina Panthers has reached $2.5 billion, according to people familiar with bids for the NFL team, which would set a record for a U.S. professional sports franchise,” the report read.
We already know multiple billionaires are in on the bidding. That reportedly includes Sherman Financial Group CEO Ben Navarro as well as an investment group headed by the third-richest man in Canada, Jim Pattison.
As Bloomberg notes, the $2.5 billion sale would represent the high-water mark for a United States professional sports franchise.
Forbes currently values the Panthers at $2.3 billion, which makes them the 21st most valuable franchise in the National Football League. For comparison’s sake, only five NBA teams are valued at $2.3-plus billion with only three MLB teams hitting that threshold.