MLB teams will be able to sell off as much as 20% in their teams to private equity firms, becoming the latest US sports leagues to court the interest of capital management funds.
Major League Baseball (MLB) has increased the threshold for external private equity investment from 15% to 20%.
The decision was approved by controlling MLB owners and was finalised this past summer, first revealed by sources familiar with the matter to Front Office Sports.
The threshold increase to 20% mirrors similar private equity ownership rules in the NFL and NBA.
In the NFL, teams’ controlling owners are able to sell up to 10% to a private equity or capital management firm and a minimum of 3%. In the NBA, teams are capped at 20% to sell off shares to private equity firms, with a 30% cap for multi-funded ownership groups, also known as consortiums.
The NBA also recently altered its rules around external investment from private equity firms. The new rules enable firms and those associated to invest in a team at the same time, which is a rule change that could greenlight Jared Kushner and Bob Iger’s $12.5bn acquisition of the Los Angeles Lakers.
There have been no current or ongoing negotiations for an MLB franchise to offload a share of its team to private equity firms before the rule change comes into effect.
The Los Angeles Angels were recently sold to Stan Kroenke’s Kroenke Sports & Entertainment for $4bn, as well as the San Diego Padres for $3.9bn to private equity firm Clearlake Capital.
Up to 20 MLB ballclubs have added or hold some form of connection to a private equity or capital management firm.
The most recent minority share sale came when the Steinbrenner Family sold 4% in the New York Yankees as part of $2.6bn debt and equity financing to Apollo Global Management.
Private equity firms taking over from the US legacy owner?
The recent rule changes to external investment in the MLB, NFL and NBA has enabled long-term ‘legacy’ owners a vehicle to cash-in on the surge of interest from private equity firms in US sports teams.
While the major US sports leagues mostly prohibit minority ownership from foreign sovereign wealth funds, the new influx of capital adds to the rise in league revenues, particularly as media rights become increasingly lucrative due to the emergence of streaming players such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+.
Arctos Partners are one of the most active capital management firms within US sports, with minority ownership stakes in US sports teams such as the Boston Red Sox, Buffalo Bills, Golden State Warriors, and the Los Angeles Dodgers, to name a few.
Ian Charles, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Arctos, told CNBC in February 2026 that sports teams have become incredibly valuable assets primarily due to two key factors: league revenue sustainability and revenue streams related to entertainment assets, such as a team’s home arena and the surrounding areas.
“They’ve got this sort of monopolistic local live-entertainment business in sports, that’s really interesting,” said Charles.
“70%-80% of the total revenue in premium sports is long term and contracted through sponsorships, through media rights, with guaranteed payments and escalators. So it doesn’t matter if GDP goes down or up.
“North American major league sports teams (are) unique investment opportunities… sports are ‘anti-cyclical’, meaning they are less vulnerable to economic cycles and recessions.”
