Have you heard the story about Pyrex? Yes, that Pyrex, the near-indestructible glassware you probably have a piece of rolling around at the back of a cupboard. Pyrex existed and thrived for over 100 years, creating jobs in western Pennsylvania and being a beloved brand worldwide. When it came to glass bakeware, nothing is as good as Pyrex.
From 1908 to 2023, Pyrex was successful — one hundred and fifteen years of leading the market. Private equity killed the brand in months. The one major misstep the company made was merging with the makers of Instant Pot in 2019. This eventually led to the company filing for bankruptcy, and Centre Lane Partners, a private equity firm, purchased the Pyrex brand in 2023. For a moment, it appeared that the company would be saved, but it turns out Centre Lane Partners were also the owners of Anchor Hocking, Pyrex’s biggest rival. In 2024 the company announced that the hundred-year-old factory in Charleroi, PA would be shuttered, and it became a reality the next year.
This all happened because nonsensically, a private equity firm was allowed to own two companies in the same industry and gain a monopoly over both. So why are we talking about Pyrex? Because it’s happening in the National Football League in its own way.
Private equity firm Arctos announced on Tuesday morning that it planned to purchase 3% of the Cleveland Browns, pending NFL owner approval. It’s going to go through, because NFL owners all want the freedom to sell part of their companies to private equity as they so desire. The core issue is that Arctos already owns part of the league, possessing 8% of the Los Angeles Chargers, and 10% of the Buffalo Bills.
Now we have a scenario where one group isn’t just owning parts of three different NFL teams, but three organizations that are all inside the same conference. While those percentages may seem small, they represent an insidious voice at the table that didn’t exist previously. One that doesn’t have the best interests at heart of an organization, a fanbase, or a city — but is solely beholden to one thing: Return on investment.
This is the NFL’s private equity gambit run amock, and it needs to be a bigger deal to fans.
Why did the NFL allow private equity ownership?
The NFL ownership structure previously existed with accountability front of mind. Up until 2021 only individuals or small groups of investors were allowed to purchase minority stakes in NFL teams, because it enabled there to be a modicum of transparency in the decision-making process.
The problem was that as the NFL grew richer, and franchises became more valuable, the league was functionally running out of people who were rich enough to buy into the sport. This became an issue for owners who were sitting on these phenomenally valuable assets but didn’t have an easy way to cash out and recoup some immediate funds, if they so desired. A majority of individual or smaller investors wanted larger stakes than 10%, because the allure of part ownership was having a seat at the table. In addition, minority owners are limited to having only having a stake in one team at a time, forcing them to sell any previous portion of a team to buy another.
In 2021 NFL owners voted to change this, allowing private equity firms to purchase up to 10% of a team. This allowed them to find deep, deep pockets to divest themselves of small portions of their teams — and it was the perfect racket, because NFL owners now had a near-limitless number of potential buyers who didn’t care if the team won or lost, whether it made the playoffs, or made the correct draft pick — as long as the NFL continued to be worth more money, they were happy.
It was the first time ownership was allowed to become a faceless transaction, moving to these large investment consortiums. In the case of Arctos they’re owned by another firm, KKR & Co. Inc. If you want to take up an issue with this group, there isn’t one person, or a handful of people who can meet in a room, but rather an amorphous monster with hundreds of managers, middlemen, and a seemngly-endless list of “partners” that can remain largely anonymous.
The decision to allow private equity ownership would be bad enough if limited to one team like the prior ownership method, but allowing one group to own part of numerous teams is downright incidious.
What is the concern with private equity ownership?
In buying parts of multiple teams, there’s a decision to be made when it comes to resource allocation. If you’re part owner of the Chargers, Bills, and soon-to-be Browns like Arctos, and questions come up about where to inject more funds — why would a faceless private equity firm choose to build up smaller markets like Buffalo or Cleveland, when they have Los Angeles in their back pocket?
If three organizations are talking to their ownership groups about injecting funds to renovate stadiums, overhaul parking, or do more community outreach, does the profit-focused company with a seat at the table choose to give money to a city of 350,000 or four million?
In the past we had individual ownership, so these questions never became a reality. In theory, everyone was invested in the best interests of the team, and with profit being innately tied to winning, there was a motivation to get into the playoffs, put the best product on the field, and benefit as a result.
Private equity doesn’t care about any of this. They are looking holistically across the entire league, with ownership in numerous areas, and they only worry about the next media rights deal, and the profit of the league as a whole. Who’s to say what happens when these organization gain even larger stakes than they aready have?
Isn’t this all just a slippery slope argument?
Yes, but it’s not without real concern. Take a look at the media landscape or live event monopolies, all semblance of common sense has gone out the window when it comes to government oversight and regulation. The conglomeration and homogenization of everything by mega-companies has been allowed to flourish and prosper because greed has trumped common sense. It’s nonsensical to have almost every media outlet be owned by five companies, but here we are. It’s without reason to justify every single ticket sale going through one vendor, but welcome to 2026.
The fear isn’t simply what a private equity firm could do while they own 10% of multiple teams, but what happens when owners get thirsty for more funds and pressure the league to increase that threshold. Whether it’s in five years, or 10 — what does the future of the NFL look like when a handful of private equity companies are as important to the decision-making process of the league as the 32 primary owners?
The scary part is that we have an NFL commissioner right now who is in lockstep with the idea of bringing in as much money right now and let the future be someone else’s problem. The issue is that for us, the fans, our love of of football is generational. It won’t dissipate when a commissioner loses a job, or dies — so the decisions Roger Goodell is helping to make right now will echo far beyond.
Seeing Arctos branch out into a third NFL team isn’t pointless worry, it’s the canary in the coal mine — and right now, that canary is struggling for breath.
