[Birkett] Private equity firms have reached out to the Lions about buying a stake in the franchise, but the Ford family has no interest in letting go a part of the team right now
March 31, 2026
(No point in sending the article link since it's blocked by a paywall. Also, fuck PE.)
33 comments
That’s good.
Holding out for a better price.
Most success the team has experienced on top of back-to-back sold out season tickets. Can’t blame the Ford family for wanting to hold on to all parts of the team
If they sell even a piece to PE, I will no longer be a fan, of the Lions or the NFL.
If the Ford family wasn’t willing to sell in 2008, why would they sell off a stake now?
That’s my team’s owner
“Right now”
This is a family that still controls an auto company lol. They aren’t exactly in the practice of handing over power to ANYONE.
Sports teams only go up in value and they aren’t taxed on them until they sell so why the hell would they sell now unless they are in dire need of cash? The family is pretty well off to put it lightly and Ford doesn’t need anything so again, why would they sell?
Just from a tax perspective, it would be stupid to sell a portion now. The cost basis of Martha Ford’s ownership is still whatever William Clay Ford bought it for in 1963, so it would be all profit. If they wait until she passes and there is a step up in basis, they can have almost none of the sales proceeds taxed as profit.
Sorry, I thought I was in r/tax for a minute there
Honestly i wouldn’t hate new ownership
Sheila has been good but we can always improve
Would you sell me a small stake for like, $5?
Thank you, Sheila.
Do not let those vultures anywhere near the Lions.
Your Detroit Blackstone-Lions are Built Ford Tough by Verizon. $70 beers sponsored by OpenAI
The worst thing that could happen to us is private equity ownership, have you seen what they’ve done to the healthcare and retail industries? We would never make the playoffs again.
Another nothing burger from Dave Burkett.
Hope it never happens for the Lions. I know the rules are 10% of the team max, no voting/decision making power at all. But I don’t care. PE is actively and deliberately making pretty much every aspect of existing in the USA worse, and I don’t like them jamming a foot in the door on football. Just fuck off.
Fuck private equity
Fuck private equity
Private equity ruins everything. No thank you!
Only ownership change for the lions I support is a public share like the Packers have, the only redeeming quality that franchise has 😔
Sadly will never happen
They have more money then God, lol there is no way they would give up any stake in the Lions
Please don’t do it. For the love of all those sad years and to be here, just to sell out
Private equity is ruining everything in America.
I hope at least 1 person who didn’t know private equity was the worst at least learns from the responses here. I’m super glad so many people do know how shitty it is already.
Good. Private equity makes everything worse.
While private equity is horrible and typically ruins everything it comes in contact with, that wouldn’t really be the case with an NFL team.
The league, and team owners, understand that private equity typically extracts as much profit as possible and then sells the parts. Wanting to avoid that, the league has rules which stop private equity from owning more than a share (10% I think) of any team, and also that private equity cannot have any decision making rights.
Which means that it’s essentially just a way for rich people who aren’t rich enough to own a sports team, to own a sports team, because sports teams are one of the few investments which consistently beat the markets.
Theoretically, it could be a good thing for a team like the Bengals which is “cash poor” compared to the rest of the league, and thus has a hard time making facility upgrades, or doing large guaranteed contracts, because they would get a chunk of change back for selling the share. Guaranteed contracts require placing the money in Escrow, but if that money isn’t being paid out to the player within the league year, teams have to place their own money in escrow and are reimbursed in a way when revenue sharing occurs. The Bengals owner is also just cheap in general, but that’s part of why.
Still, fuck private equity.
Private equity sucks but as other people mentioned the NFL only allows at most 10% of a franchise to be owned by private equity, so whatever.
Fuck private equity firms
Can you imagine if they did and we had to see SAM BERNSTEIN ads every 5 seconds? It would be a nightmare
33 comments
That’s good.
Holding out for a better price.
Most success the team has experienced on top of back-to-back sold out season tickets. Can’t blame the Ford family for wanting to hold on to all parts of the team
If they sell even a piece to PE, I will no longer be a fan, of the Lions or the NFL.
If the Ford family wasn’t willing to sell in 2008, why would they sell off a stake now?
That’s my team’s owner
“Right now”
This is a family that still controls an auto company lol. They aren’t exactly in the practice of handing over power to ANYONE.
Sports teams only go up in value and they aren’t taxed on them until they sell so why the hell would they sell now unless they are in dire need of cash? The family is pretty well off to put it lightly and Ford doesn’t need anything so again, why would they sell?
Just from a tax perspective, it would be stupid to sell a portion now. The cost basis of Martha Ford’s ownership is still whatever William Clay Ford bought it for in 1963, so it would be all profit. If they wait until she passes and there is a step up in basis, they can have almost none of the sales proceeds taxed as profit.
Sorry, I thought I was in r/tax for a minute there
Honestly i wouldn’t hate new ownership
Sheila has been good but we can always improve
Would you sell me a small stake for like, $5?
Thank you, Sheila.
Do not let those vultures anywhere near the Lions.
Your Detroit Blackstone-Lions are Built Ford Tough by Verizon. $70 beers sponsored by OpenAI
The worst thing that could happen to us is private equity ownership, have you seen what they’ve done to the healthcare and retail industries? We would never make the playoffs again.
Another nothing burger from Dave Burkett.
Hope it never happens for the Lions. I know the rules are 10% of the team max, no voting/decision making power at all. But I don’t care. PE is actively and deliberately making pretty much every aspect of existing in the USA worse, and I don’t like them jamming a foot in the door on football. Just fuck off.
Fuck private equity
Fuck private equity
Private equity ruins everything. No thank you!
Only ownership change for the lions I support is a public share like the Packers have, the only redeeming quality that franchise has 😔
Sadly will never happen
They have more money then God, lol there is no way they would give up any stake in the Lions
Please don’t do it. For the love of all those sad years and to be here, just to sell out
Private equity is ruining everything in America.
I hope at least 1 person who didn’t know private equity was the worst at least learns from the responses here. I’m super glad so many people do know how shitty it is already.
Good. Private equity makes everything worse.
While private equity is horrible and typically ruins everything it comes in contact with, that wouldn’t really be the case with an NFL team.
The league, and team owners, understand that private equity typically extracts as much profit as possible and then sells the parts. Wanting to avoid that, the league has rules which stop private equity from owning more than a share (10% I think) of any team, and also that private equity cannot have any decision making rights.
Which means that it’s essentially just a way for rich people who aren’t rich enough to own a sports team, to own a sports team, because sports teams are one of the few investments which consistently beat the markets.
Theoretically, it could be a good thing for a team like the Bengals which is “cash poor” compared to the rest of the league, and thus has a hard time making facility upgrades, or doing large guaranteed contracts, because they would get a chunk of change back for selling the share. Guaranteed contracts require placing the money in Escrow, but if that money isn’t being paid out to the player within the league year, teams have to place their own money in escrow and are reimbursed in a way when revenue sharing occurs. The Bengals owner is also just cheap in general, but that’s part of why.
Still, fuck private equity.
Private equity sucks but as other people mentioned the NFL only allows at most 10% of a franchise to be owned by private equity, so whatever.
Fuck private equity firms
Can you imagine if they did and we had to see SAM BERNSTEIN ads every 5 seconds? It would be a nightmare