Chicago Bears set for £6.5bn valuation after NFL franchise equity deal, report
NFL team the Chicago Bears could be valued at £6.5bn after two major shareholders agreed to an equity share of late investor Andrew McKenna.
Former Aon director McKenna’s stake was shared between the McCaskey and Ryan families in an agreement which resulted in NFL commissioner Roger Goodell not needing to get involved in settling where the equity lies.
The McCaskey family will now have around 80 per cent of the franchise with the Ryans holding the remaining stake.
The agreement, based on the equity share, values the Bears at roughly $8.8bn, or £6.5bn, according to Sportico.
The deal would represent the one of the highest valuations for an NFL team, though the Dallas Cowboys’ reported valuation of $10bn eclipses this figure.
A number of recent NFL stake sales have seen valuations similar to that set to be achieved by the Chicago Bears.
Chicago Bears comparisons
A minority six per cent stake sale in the San Francisco 49ers valued the West Coast franchise at $8.6bn while the Super Bowl-winning Philadelphia Eagles, as well as the Miami Dolphins, also sold small percentages at valuations exceeding $8bn.
It is also understood that the minority stake sale in the New York Giants is set to jump the aforementioned franchise valuations.
The McCaskey family have owned the Chicago team for over 100 years with the Ryans and McKenna coming into the fold in the 1990s.
The valuation comes as the NFL agreed to purchase 10 per cent of Disney subsidiary ESPN in a deal that will see the broadcaster control the NFL Network media arm.
The American football league is also across a number of broadcast deals with the likes of Netflix and YouTube while the number of overseas international games will hit seven in this coming season.
The NFL is reportedly set to announce a new-look UK broadcast deal with Channel 5, too, which will see the free-to-air broadcaster show two matches per game week. It will continue to show matches with Sky Sports.