But the Commanders deal was an anomaly. First, the new ownership group has 20 limited partners, by far the most in the NFL. There was no real competing bid—the only other legitimate offer was $5.6 billion from Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta. Finally, the $6 billion included a $200 million “earn-out” that will be paid to former owner Dan Snyder if the Commanders reach specified revenue targets over the next three seasons.
To make it easier to buy a team going forward, the NFL will very likely have to relax some of its stringent rules for future owners. League rules currently stipulate that a general partner must own at least 30% of a team, much stricter than the NBA , MLB and NHL rules. The NFL is going to increase its debt limit over the next several months. Currently, teams can have $600 million of debt, and a prospective buyer is permitted to have up to $1.1 billion of debt.
Bigger piles of TV cash are also headed the NFL’s way starting this season, making that debt even more affordable. The league now has five television deals that will kick in this season and, when combined with Amazon’sdeal that started in 2022, are guaranteed to yield $125.5 billion through 2033.