Tremaine Edmunds #49 of the Chicago Bears celebrates with teammates after making an interception throughout the second half towards 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 has accredited the sale of two.35% of the Chicago Bears to current house owners of the crew in a deal that values the Bears at an NFL file $8.9 billion, in response to three individuals accustomed to the deal, who requested to not be named as a result of they weren’t licensed to talk publicly. As a result of the sale is to current crew house owners, the league doesn’t require the deal to be accredited by three-fourths of the NFL’s house owners.
The Bears have been valued at $6.4 billion only a 12 months 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 response to two individuals accustomed to the deal. McKenna died in 2023. Galatioto Sports activities Companions represented the property within the sale, mentioned the individuals, who requested to not be named as a result of they weren’t licensed 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 individuals mentioned.
Neither the NFL nor Galatioto Sports activities Companions responded to emailed questions from CNBC in regards to the sale.
The earlier file 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 response to an individual accustomed to the deal, who requested to not be named as a result of they weren’t licensed 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 the moment trying to promote a ten% stake at a few $10 billion valuation, CNBC beforehand reported.
The Bears at the moment play on the out of date Soldier Discipline, which was final renovated greater than 20 years in the past.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 among the income from non-NFL occasions on the stadium. The crew is exploring constructing a stadium in Arlington Heights, a suburb of Chicago. A set-roof domed stadium would give the Bears a possibility to host non-NFL occasions year-round and get extra non-NFL occasion income.
Valuations for the sale of restricted associate stakes don’t essentially translate to manage sale costs. Giant 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 massive. In some instances, nonetheless, small LP stakes, say, beneath 10%, can promote at a premium to a management sale valuation as a result of an LP stake will be the solely alternative an individual has to personal a bit 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 response to media experiences.
[/gpt3]
