Tremaine Edmunds #49 of the Chicago Bears celebrates with teammates after making an interception throughout the second half in opposition to the Dallas Cowboys on September 21, 2025 at Soldier Discipline in Chicago, Illinois.
Melissa Tamez | Icon Sportswire | Getty Pictures
The Nationwide Soccer League’s finance committee authorized the sale of two.35% of the Chicago Bears to present house owners of the crew in a deal that units a league document and values the Bears at $8.9 billion, in keeping with three folks accustomed to the deal, who requested to not be named as a result of they weren’t approved to talk publicly.
The deal closed a number of days in the past, in keeping with one of many folks. As a result of the sale is to present crew house owners, the league doesn’t require the deal to be authorized by three-fourths of the NFL’s house owners.
The Bears had been valued at $6.4 billion only a yr in the past in CNBC’s Official NFL Workforce Valuations — No. 10 among the many league’s 32 groups. The crew rose to No. 7 in CNBC’s 2025 valuations.
The stake of the Bears that was bought was held by the property of Andrew McKenna, in keeping with two folks accustomed to the deal. McKenna died in 2023. Galatioto Sports activities Companions represented the property within the sale, stated the folks, who requested to not be named as a result of they weren’t approved to talk publicly. Two-thirds of the two.3% bought will go to the McCaskey household and one-third will go to the Ryan household, leaving the previous with about 77% possession and the latter with about 23%, the folks stated.
Neither the NFL nor Galatioto Sports activities Companions responded to emailed questions from CNBC concerning the sale.
The earlier document excessive valuation within the sale of a minority stake in an NFL crew was $8.6 billion, within the buy of a 6.2% stake of the San Francisco 49ers in Could, in keeping with an individual accustomed to the deal, who requested to not be named as a result of they weren’t approved to talk publicly. That topped the $8.3 billion valuation for an 8% stake within the Philadelphia Eagles on the finish of 2024, CNBC beforehand reported. The New York Giants are at present trying to promote a ten% stake at a few $10 billion valuation, CNBC beforehand reported.
The Bears at present play on the out of date Soldier Discipline, which was final renovated greater than 20 years in the past. The Chicago Park District will get a number of the income from non-NFL occasions on the stadium. The crew is exploring constructing a stadium in Arlington Heights, a suburb of Chicago. A hard and fast-roof domed stadium would give the Bears a chance to host non-NFL occasions year-round and get extra non-NFL occasion income.
Valuations for the sale of restricted accomplice stakes don’t essentially translate to manage sale costs. Massive LP stakes, say, above 20%, sometimes promote at reductions to manage sale valuations as a result of restricted companions don’t have any stake in how the crew is run and the greenback quantity to purchase the stake is comparatively giant. In some circumstances, nonetheless, small LP stakes, say, under 10%, can promote at a premium to a management sale valuation as a result of an LP stake would be the solely alternative an individual has to personal a chunk of an NFL crew resulting from skyrocketing valuations and the precise greenback quantity required to purchase such a stake is comparatively small.
The final management sale of an NFL crew was Josh Harris’ buy of the Washington Commanders for $6.05 billion in 2023, in keeping with media reviews.
