Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady join Bills' ownership group as limited partners

IRVING, Texas (AP) — Basketball Hall of Famers Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady are among 10 limited partners who have joined the Buffalo Bills’ ownership group.

The noncontrolling, minority interests were approved Wednesday by NFL team owners at the league’s winter meetings. This is the first time in Bills' franchise history that minority owners have been added.

NFL team owners approved a measure earlier this year that allows investments into franchises by private equity funds. The league’s ownership rules had been among the most restrictive in professional sports.

Other teams also are finalizing the addition of limited partners. NFL team owners also approved Wednesday the minority, noncontrolling interest sales involving the Miami Dolphins and Philadelphia Eagles.

Terry and Kim Pegula bought the Bills for $1.4 billion from the estate of late Hall of Fame owner Ralph Wilson in 2014.

As part of the deal, they will retain about 79% control of the team, a person with knowledge of the sale told The Associated Press. Under the sale terms, the Bills were valued “well north of $4.5 billion,” a second person told the AP, meaning the Pegulas will get more than $927 million in the deal.

Both people spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity because the Bills did not reveal those details.

Carter and McGrady's connections to Toronto — both played for the NBA Raptors — are considered advantages because of their potential to help the small-market team generate further interest in Canada's largest city, located about a two-hour drive from Buffalo. Toronto is considered part of the Bills' marketing region, with southern Ontario residents representing more than 15 per cent of the team's season-ticket base.

Former U.S. National Team soccer player and MLS Champion Jozy Altidore is among the new limited partners.

The remaining seven partners, pending final closing of the agreements: private investment firm Arctos, Rob Palumbo, co-managing partner of Accel-KKR; Sue McCollum, CEO and owner of beverage distribution companies Eagle Brand Sales and Double Eagle Distributing; Theresia Gouw, co-founder and managing partner of the venture capital firm Acrew Capital; Rob Ward, co-founder, general partner of venture capital firm Meritech Capital; Mike Joo, COO, Global Corporate and Investment Banking and Head of North America Corporate and Investment Banking at Bank of America; and Tom Burger, co-founder and managing partner of the investment firm Gridiron Capital.

“I’m the kind of person that I believe two heads are better than one,” Terry Pegula said. “We can bring in Arctos with their experience worldwide and multiple sports, I think is a good thing. And I’m willing to listen on the business side to any input they may have. Our other limiteds, the individuals, most of them are Bills fans from their youth. They were Bills fans before I was a Bills fan. So I’m excited to deal with them. One of the things that I wanted to accomplish also was to bring in some women. We’ve got two female investors who are very successful business people. I’ve got three daughters that are involved in the team, hopefully more so in the future. And I think that’s a good thing for them to learn some business acumen from and have some female input. Because when Kim went down, that was a loss of influence on my daughters. As far as the business side goes, she’s unable to be involved.”

Kim Pegula is still recovering from a debilitating cardiac arrest suffered in June 2022.

Dolphins owner Stephen Ross announced an investment deal with Ares Management funds and Brooklyn Nets owners Joe Tsai and Oliver Weisberg.

The transaction includes assets such as Hard Rock Stadium and the Formula One Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix, with the investment fuelling continued growth across Ross’ diverse South Florida-based sports and entertainment portfolio. Ares will acquire a 10 per cent stake, while Tsai and Weisberg together will hold a three per cent interest, pending final closing of the agreements.

Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie received approval for the sale of an eight per cent interest of the team to two family investment groups, a person familiar with the agreement told the AP. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team hasn't announced the deal.

Seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady already purchased a minority stake in the Las Vegas Raiders in a deal approved by NFL team owners in October.

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AP Sports Writers John Wawrow in Orchard Park, New York, and Alanis Thames in Miami Gardens, Florida, contributed to this report.

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Rob Maaddi, The Associated Press