The New England Patriots have been a family business since Robert Kraft took over, but that’s reportedly going to change.
The Patriots owner has agreed to sell 8% of the team, the Sports Business Journal reported. According to the report, 3% of the team will be sold to Sixth Street, a private equity firm. The other 5%, according to SBJ, is being sold to Greek billionaire Dean Metropoulos.
The deals are being made based on a valuation of “a little over ($9 billion),” according to the report.
That on its own marks a significant return on investment for Kraft, who bought the team in 1994 for the tidy price of $172 million. Rounding down to a $9 billion valuation, 8% is more than $700 million back to Kraft and his family.
How Patriots Stack Up Among NFL Franchise Valuations
The $9 billion valuation aligns with recent NFL sales. Earlier in September, the Mara and Tisch families, after announcing months earlier they were exploring selling a stake in the historic franchise, sold 10% of the team at a valuation of $10 billion. So, while the Patriots‘ valuation falls just short of that, the number does exceed the $6.05 billion Josh Harris and his ownership group paid to buy the Washington Commanders in 2023.
According to CNBC’s valuations, the average NFL team was worth $7.65 billion entering the season, a nearly 20% gain year over year.
CNBC’s valuations had the Patriots at $9.25 billion, right in line with the figure of the reported Kraft selloff.
Here are the top 10 most valuable franchises in the NFL, per CNBC:
Dallas Cowboys — $12.5 billion
Los Angeles Rams — $10.7 billion
New York Giants — $10.5 billion
Las Vegas Raiders — $9.3 billion
New England Patriots — $9.25 billion
New York Jets — $9.1 billion
Chicago Bears — $8.9 billion
San Francisco 49ers — $8.6 billion
Miami Dolphins — $8.55 billion
Philadelphia Eagles — $8.5 billion
Patriots’ Shift Part of Wider NFL Change
The Patriots‘ decision to sell off a stake to private equity comes just months after NFL owners voted to allow PE firms to buy stakes in teams. That was passed in August of 2024, representing a major change in the NFL’s ownership guidelines.
The NFL has been thinking about private equity for five years and got very serious about it in the last year, with the appointment of a special committee to delve into an asset class that other professional sports leagues were already in business with,” Judy Battista wrote for NFL.com in August.
As part of that approval, there were additional guardrails put in place. Teams can’t sell more than 10% to private equity firms, but each stake must be worth at least 3%, meaning the Sixth Street portion is the bare minimum for the Patriots.
This is 10 percent of a team,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said at the time of the announcement. “All it is is a silent position that would allow access to capital for those teams that wish to offer 10 percent of their team. They will not be in any kind of decision-making influence in any way. It was very important when we began this that we strengthen the ownership.”
How this ultimately affects the long-term direction of the Patriots, Gillette Stadium and Patriot Place is unclear. Kraft has made it clear, however, that his son Jonathan Kraft is his successor and believes the organization will stay within the family at least through Jonathan’s lifetime.
Robert Kraft turned 84 years old in June.
Patriots Sale: Robert Kraft Reportedly Makes Major Move