Future
A Stake in the Miami Dolphins Is Back on the Block
Owner Stephen Ross is talking to private equity firms after the N.F.L. changed the rules on what types of investors can buy into the league.
A sale of a stake in the Miami Dolphins could be the first under new N.F.L. rules that allow certain private equity firms to buy into teams.Credit…Sam Navarro/USA TODAY Sports, via Reuters
A second effort to sell a stake in the Dolphins
Months after the Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross failed to sell a stake in the team to fellow billionaire Ken Griffin, he’s trying once again — this time with some potential help from private equity.
Ross is in talks with private equity firms, including Arctos Partners, and individuals to sell a stake in the Dolphins at a valuation above $7 billion, two people with knowledge of the negotiations told DealBook’s Lauren Hirsch and The Times’s Ken Belson.
A spokeswoman for the Dolphins did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ross is looking to strike a unique deal within the N.F.L. universe. Besides a stake in the Dolphins, a transaction would also include partial ownership of the Miami Grand Prix, the Formula One race, and Hard Rock Stadium, the team’s home arena. (Ross is looking to sell as much as a 15 percent stake in the team and other assets.)
All that could lead to a higher price tag, potentially lifting the valuations of other N.F.L. franchises as well.
A transaction could be approved as soon as December, at a N.F.L. owners meeting in Dallas, one of the people with knowledge of the talks said.
Talks with Griffin ended in April. The hedge fund mogul had sought a path to eventually control the Dolphins, while Ross wanted to keep majority ownership within his family.
