Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores is expanding his professional sports portfolio after agreeing to purchase a 27% stake in the Los Angeles Chargers of the NFL. Gores, a Flint native who lives in California, will purchase his stake in the franchise outright as opposed to financing through his private equity firm Platinum Equity as he did when he purchased the Pistons in 2011.
It seems like it’s never a bad time to be in the NFL ownership business, as the value of franchises continues to skyrocket, but what is notable about Gores’ purchase really has nothing to do with Gores.
The Spanos family has been in a protracted ownership struggle over the Chargers for years, with Dea Spanos Berberian filing several lawsuits since 2021 against other members of her family, including majority owner Dean Spanos.
Gores will purchase the 24% owned by Dea, who will also drop her lawsuits. He will also pocket an additional 1% from three other Spanos family members, per media reports. There would be no path for Gores to finagle majority control of the franchise, as Dean owns 69% of the team. Forbes reports the Chargers franchise is valued at $5.1 billion, ranking a paltry 20th in the NFL.
If my math is correct, that would mean roughly a $1.3 billion investment for Gores, whose net worth stands at $9.4 billion, per Forbes. The deal is expected to be finalized at NFL league meetings in Atlanta next month, per ESPN.
That means a Michigan State alum has a $1 billion stake in an NFL team coached by a University of Michigan national champion head coach (Jim Harbaugh). Life’s funny sometimes.