The Carolina Panthers are expected to be sold to David Tepper for $2.2 billion, a figure that will set the record for the highest sale price of an NFL team and make it one of the most expensive U.S. professional sports franchises ever purchased.
Tepper, a hedge fund founder and currently a minority owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, is one of 109 billionaires who own the top 140 sports brands, according to a joint report released in October from money manager UBS and consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The proposed Panthers sale highlights an upward trajectory for the value of professional teams in major sports. It's a far cry from the $100 George Halas purchased the Chicago Bears for in 1920. (The team now is valued at $2.85 billion, per Forbes).
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"Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things." George Carlin
Tepper's purchase concludes a remarkable fall from grace for Richardson. A former player himself, Richardson was the founding owner of the franchise, which began play in 1995. There is statue of him outside Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte and Richardson once wielded considerable influence in league matters. But he abruptly announced he would sell the team last December, after the NFL took over an investigation into workplace misconduct allegations against him that were detailed in a Sports Illustrated story. Shortly after putting the team on the market, Richardson ceded day-to-day control of the team to chief operating officer Tina Becker. It is unclear if Becker, who has not spoken to reporters since, will have a role with the team after Tepper takes over. But the investigation into Richardson, which is being led by former Securities and Exchange Commission chair Mary Jo White, is expected to continue, in part because the NFL wants a new owner to have a full accounting of the existing workplace culture and because the league hopes to use the findings to inform guidelines for other teams.
"Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things." George Carlin
