By Danielle Walker

If you are a pro football fan, you may own season tickets to your favorite team's games, an official jersey, and even a stadium cushion with the team's logo emblazoned on it. You might also own a piece of the team without knowing it -- or you could soon.

That is because retirement plans can now invest indirectly in National Football League teams, thanks to rules the league approved in 2024 that loosened restrictions on ownership. Vetted private-equity firms can buy up to 10% stakes in teams, and institutional investors such as retirement plans can invest in those PE firms' funds.

Some are doing just that. Last year, the Kentucky County Employees Retirement System committed about $100 million to the Arctos American Football fund, which is run by Arctos Partners, one of the private-equity firms that won NFL approval. Arctos has taken minority stakes in the Los Angeles Chargers and Buffalo Bills.

Meanwhile, Oregon's treasury said last year that the state's Public Employees Retirement Fund "now has indirect exposure to franchises such as the Buffalo Bills, Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chelsea F.C., and Paris Saint-Germain" via investments it has made with Arctos.

More investors could pile in, given the finite number of investible teams. Professional sports teams are "a scarce and sought-after asset," says Shashin Khanna, vice president for corporate ratings, sports finance, at Morningstar DBRS. Of the five major U.S. sports leagues -- the NFL, the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, and Major League Soccer -- there are only "roughly 150 teams that an investor can own a piece of," says Khanna.

Other PE firms are paying attention. Arctos' experience investing in sports franchises helped attract private-equity giant KKR, which this month announced it would acquire Arctos in a $1.4 billion deal.

"Arctos provides KKR with a differentiated entry point into the sports franchise stakes sector, a category characterized by historical and expected long-term value appreciation and growing global demand," a joint press release from KKR and Arctos said.

Investing Case

Sports investing, as part of a pension fund's allocation to alternative investments, makes sense. Sports teams have the potential for strong returns, and offer diversification because their returns don't correlate with stock and bond markets, says Morningstar's Khanna.

"NFL franchise values have historically only gone in one direction, which is up," he says. The average NFL team is worth $7.1 billion, according to 2025 data from sports business website Sportico. That is about 20% more than the previous year, and double the average four years ago, says Khanna. "They've generally outpaced the S&P 500, and they are uncorrelated to the overall equity market."

Pension funds aren't the only ones eyeing NFL investment opportunities. At Morgan Stanley, wealthy individuals, family offices, and trusts have also shown increased interest in these deals over the past year, says Jim Hansberger, a financial advisor and global sports and entertainment director at Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management.

"We are working with individual clients and institutions, and also advising through our investment bank," says Hansberger. He wouldn't name specific investment opportunities available to Morgan Stanley clients, but says "the investment opportunities go in all directions."

"We are also representing the team and owner themselves, going in the other direction," Hansberger says. "We may be the investment banker, investment advisor, or the private wealth manager to the family office."

It Isn't Just Football

Diversified sports funds that include the NFL may make the most sense for investors who want a stake in a football franchise, but more options are cropping up. In early January, CAIS Advisors launched its CAIS Sports, Media and Entertainment fund, selecting Arctos and Eldridge as core independent managers.

For accredited investors (those with net worth of more than $1 million excluding their primary residence, or who have individual annual income above $200,000, or who meet certain professional criteria), the new fund offers exposure to the five big sports leagues along with film and television companies, music catalogs, and other assets in media and entertainment. The fund has a minimum investment of $25,000, according to CAIS.

Neil Blundell, chief investment officer of CAIS Advisors, says the evolution of the NFL's business model has helped propel interest in the new asset class for institutional and accredited investors.

"Historically, sports was more about tickets, concessions, and the local market," Blundell says. "Now, there's digital media. Then there's the stadium and adjacent real estate development, which has really grown, and premium services such as boxes. Also, sports is one of the last remaining forms of must-see live TV content."

The NFL's media rights deals have also brought long-term cash into the league, which gives investors "great visibility and predictability into revenue," Blundell says.

That could prove to be a winning combination for retirement plans that take indirect stakes in NFL teams.

Write to advisors@barrons.com

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February 19, 2026 03:00 ET (08:00 GMT)

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