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The $4tn private equity industry has struck its first two deals to buy stakes in National Football League teams as Wall Street’s most powerful funds eye long-term investments in the world’s most profitable sports league.

Ares Management on Wednesday acquired a 10 per cent stake in the NFL’s Miami Dolphins franchise. Arctos, a sports-focused private equity investor, led a group that purchased a minority equity stake in the Buffalo Bills, based in upstate New York and owned by oil billionaire Terry Pegula, father of US tennis star Jessica Pegula.

The NFL approved the two deals at its owners’ meeting in Dallas, ushering in a new era when Wall Street investment funds will be allowed to own direct stakes in popular and valuable US football teams.

The deals are the first in what investors expect will be a torrent of similar minority investments in the coming years, after NFL owners approved major changes to ownership rules in August and permitted private equity groups to invest in teams.

Ares, which manages nearly $500bn in assets, is buying its minority stake from Dolphins owner and billionaire real estate mogul Stephen Ross at a valuation of $8.1bn, said people briefed on the deal.

In addition to a stake in the football team, Ares and other investors in the group — including Alibaba co-founder Joe Tsai — will own minority stakes in the Dolphins’ Hard Rock Stadium in Miami and the Formula One Miami Grand Prix.

Finance firms have long hoped to invest in the NFL. “It’s the most valuable global sports property from an economic standpoint,” said one prominent dealmaker, who also noted investors have been drawn to the consistency of team profits and the belief new revenue streams will generate rising cash flows to ownership groups.

NFL teams also carry unleveraged balance sheets, making the investments recession-resistant. “The cap tables are not what we are used to seeing in a traditional leveraged buyout,” said another dealmaker. Team values are priced at multiples of about nine to 12 times revenues, said people familiar with the matter, who noted those can go higher or lower depending on whether a team owns their stadium.

Buying an NFL franchise outright is beyond even some of the world’s richest people, as valuations have soared. That has strengthened the case for allowing buyout firms to enter the ownership ecosystem to smooth the sales process for existing owners and facilitate liquidity.

The average NFL team was worth roughly $5.9bn in Sportico’s valuations report in August, an increase of more than 15 per cent on last year, bolstered by the league’s domestic media rights, which are worth $110bn over the 11 years through 2033.

Arctos and Ares have a long record of investing in sports teams around the globe.

Dallas-based Arctos has minority stakes in several baseball teams, including the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants, and basketball franchises such as the Utah Jazz. Last year the firm acquired stakes in the Qatari-owned football team Paris Saint-Germain and Aston Martin F1. The firm’s co-founder Ian Charles told the Financial Times earlier this year it planned to focus future investment in North America after it raised a new $4.1bn fund in April.

Ares, which specialises in credit, has completed deals with several football teams including Chelsea, Olympique Lyonnais and Inter Miami. In 2022, it raised $3.7bn for a fund dedicated to sport and media investments. It has also backed the McLaren Racing F1 team.

Ares and Arctos were among a small group of private equity firms the NFL approved as potential buyers. The others were Sixth Street and a consortium made up of Blackstone, Carlyle, CVC, Dynasty Equity and Ludis.

The NFL stipulated that firms are only permitted to buy up to 10 per cent of any individual team, and blocked so-called preferred equity deals that give certain shareholders superior rights such as first dibs on dividends.

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US inflation rose to 2.7 per cent in November, as the Federal Reserve considers how quickly to press ahead with lowering interest rates.

The figure was in line with the expectations of economists polled by Bloomberg but higher than October’s rate of 2.6 per cent.

The data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Wednesday underlines concerns about sticky inflation following a previous increase in October.

The Fed is widely expected next week to make its third consecutive quarter-point cut to interest rates, but the trajectory next year is less certain, as the central bank wrestles with its dual mandate to keep inflation close to 2 per cent and maintain a healthy labour market.

On a monthly basis, prices were up 0.3 per cent.

Once food and energy prices were stripped out, core CPI rose 0.3 per cent for the month, or 3.3 per cent on an annual basis.

US stock futures slightly extended their gains after the data was released. Contracts tracking the benchmark S&P 500 gauge were up 0.3 per cent, while those tracking the technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 index rose 0.4 per cent.

Government bonds were muted, with the policy-sensitive two-year Treasury yield steady at 4.15 per cent.

Market pricing on Wednesday indicated that investors were still betting on a quarter-point cut by the Fed next week, which would take interest rates to a new target range of 4.25-4.5 per cent.

Officials have discussed slowing the pace of cuts as rates reach a more “neutral” setting that is high enough to keep inflation in check but sufficiently low to safeguard the labour market.

They argue that if they move too quickly, inflation may get stuck above their 2 per cent target, but moving too slowly could risk a sharp rise in the unemployment rate.

Jobs growth rebounded sharply in November after being dragged down by hurricanes and strikes the previous month.

However, the unemployment rate rose to 4.2 per cent, suggesting the labour market’s acceleration was not strong enough to risk reigniting inflation.

Economists add that while price pressures remain high in service sectors related to housing, they are expected to level off over time.

Some officials in the outgoing Biden administration have expressed concern that the policies of president-elect Donald Trump will damage the economy after he returns to the White House next month.

US Treasury secretary Janet Yellen said this week that the sweeping tariffs proposed by Trump could “derail” progress on taming inflation.

“[Tariffs] would have an adverse impact on the competitiveness of some sectors of the United States economy, and could significantly raise costs to households,” she said at an event hosted by the Wall Street Journal.

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Today’s top stories

Syrians are transitioning from celebrating the ousting of long-time dictator Bashar al-Assad and the toppling of his regime to thinking about the huge challenges facing the war-torn country. Ahmed al-Shara, who is at the forefront of the rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, is at least nominally in charge of the country. Here are five things to watch as Syria looks toward a new future.

• 🎧 “What is quite extraordinary is they seem to now be handling a relatively managed handover of power,” NPR’s Ruth Sherlock tells Up First. A new transitional government has been formed, which includes some politicians from the old regime. Soldiers conscripted into military service are being pardoned, and leaders are working to dismantle the regime’s feared security apparatus. Sherlock visited the Sednaya prison, one of the most feared complexes known for torture and mass executions. It is now open, and rebels have released prisoners. Many of those who were imprisoned are still missing, and the facility is full of their loved ones looking for clues as to where they may be.
• ➡️ More than a million Syrians now live in Germany after fleeing Syria due to violence under Assad’s regime. Now, many are debating whether to return. Some Syrians share their thoughts with NPR’s Rob Schmitz about whether to go back.
• ➡️ Journalist Austin Tice went missing 12 years ago during a reporting trip in Syria. After the fall of the Assad regime, there has been increased hope that he is still alive. U.S. officials say they are working with sources on the ground to get information about Tice.

Investigators and some extremism researchers are looking into whether there’s evidence of a clear ideology behind the UnitedHealthcare CEO’s killing after details about suspect Luigi Mangione surfaced online. Mangione is a member of a prominent Maryland family, graduated top of his class from an elite prep school and received two Ivy League school degrees. He reportedly suffered a major back injury and underwent surgery a couple of years ago.

• 🎧 Mangione had several social media accounts, including one on Goodreads where he posted an excerpt from the writings of Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber, NPR’s Odette Yousef says. One of the photos on his X account is an X-ray of a spine with four large screws inserted. It isn’t certain that this is his X-ray. His digital footprint doesn’t clarify much because it cuts off in the spring. Police found a handwritten note conveying a deep anger towards the healthcare industry and a feeling that someone had to take action, Yousef says.
• ➡️ Brian Thompson, the UnitedHealthcare CEO, was likely killed with a ghost gun. Here’s what they are and how they are made.

Two separate judges blocked the $24.6 billion merger deal for Kroger and Albertsons yesterday. One of the cases was brought by federal regulators while the other was presented by the Washington state attorney general. It would have been the biggest grocery merger in U.S. history. Now, after two years of delays, its fate is unknown.

• 🎧 The block is technically temporary and Kroger and Albertsons could keep fighting and appeal, NPR’s Alina Selyukh says. The state judge ruled the merger violated state consumer protection law and the federal case blocked the merger nationwide. Government lawyers argued the merger would leave shoppers worse off. Kroger and Albertsons made the case that the merger was a matter of survival and that their biggest rivals are not conventional supermarkets but giants like Walmart and Costco. The companies say they are disappointed and disagree with the decision and are currently weighing their options going forward.

Life advice

It can be hard to know what to say to someone whose loved one has died. You want to show love and support, but you also know there isn’t much you can say to heal their pain. If you feel at a loss for words, psychologist and grief consultant Mekel Harris and author of Grief is Love Marisa Renee Lee have some dos and don’ts when expressing condolences.

• ❤️ Don’t start anything with “at least.” This phrase may minimize your friend’s experience and could impose a viewpoint that may not ring true.
• ❤️ Saying “no need to respond” releases the grieving person from any pressure or expectation to reply.
• ❤️ Clichés like “time heals all wounds” can sound hollow and impersonal.
• ❤️ Keep reaching out, even months after the death. Grief is a long road, and each person heals at their own pace.

Check out the more tips here.

Picture show

Clockwise, from top left: Laura Forer, Michelle Alette, Domenique Rice, Jen Loga, Dr. Patty Ng and Marise Angibeau-Gray

Nancy Borowick

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Nancy Borowick

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Nancy Borowick found that photography was therapeutic for her after she lost both of her parents within 364 days of one another. It continued to have healing power when she found herself deep in depression 13 months after the traumatic birth of her son. Borowick turned to social media to ask others about their experiences with birth trauma. One grandmother asked her, “Are you looking for stories about stillbirth?” The question prompted her to start The Loss Mother’s Stone, a project she hopes will draw awareness to women’s stories, educate Americans and destigmatize the conversation between doctors and patients.

3 things to know before you go

After The Onion was named the winning bidder for Alex Jones’ assets at a bankruptcy auction last month, the losing bidder tried to stop the sale, saying the process was rigged and “fatally flawed.”

Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images

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1. A bankruptcy judge has rejected a bid by The Onion’s owners to buy Alex Jones’ Infowars, saying the offer and process were flawed.
2. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed a new law Monday that limits how a book can be banned in schools and public libraries and protects librarians from lawsuits. (via WHYY)
3. The U.S.’ first state-sanctioned facility for people to use illegal drugs under medical supervision opened yesterday in Rhode Island. The facilities are part of an effort to prevent overdoses. (via The Public’s Radio)

This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.