Private Equity has entered nearly every facet of the average American's life, and is beginning to squeeze. How far will this go with their increased investments in NFL?
SACRAMENTO -- First they came for the sandwiches, and I said nothing. Then they came for my burgers, and I still said nothing. Then they came for the gridiron, and that is when I started to care. The rise of Private Equity in America comes for us all.
Dubbed "enshittification", coined by Cory Doctorow and used heavily on Reddit and X, is the process in which a good product lived by many is intentionally degraded over time, hollowed out, to increase the bottom line of the owning entities. Private Equity's effects on this are wide-ranging, from worse quality fast-food to the quality of movies and television, and now to professional sports. And their effects are starting to creep in.
The latest round of cuts is the NFL's Pro Bowl. The Pro Bowl, to be frank, wasn't great to begin with. Players would phone it in to avoid getting injuries, and many simply opted out. One could argue that this was a bad incentive structure by the NFL, and it was a lack of investment which resulted in boring games. Regardless, it is now axed for the 2026-27 season, and we can thank Private Equity groups for that.
A coalition between the Arctos Partners (Buffalo Bills, Chargers, and Falcons), Ares Management (Dolphins), and Sixth Street Partners (Patrios and Seahawks) have applied great pressure to the NFL ownership to not only expand the caps on PE ownership, but to also start trimming the fat. The fat which diehard fans have loyally chewed on for many years.
Next up: the mass layoffs. The NFL's regularly scheduled preseason roster cuts never happen on a Sunday. They usually happen in person, where the owners can meet the players face to face. Now? This is sprang on the weekend, and most will be conducted over Zoom. This is an uninspired move that is largely taken from the tech industry. It is painful to watch.
Finally, Private Equity is pushing the NFL to actually punish DUIs, a crime that was traditionally met with a high-five at most. This comes on the tail of Colts Quarterback Keenan Allen's DUI today. This one in particular will be devastating to the league.
When will establishments beloved by many stopped being gutted for profit, determined indiscriminately by Excel formulas and more recently LLMs?