NFL launches private equity era [Video]

In a move that will mean little to most fans, the NFL has made a major change to team ownership structure. On Tuesday, the NFL adopted a policy allowing private equity ownership in teams.

The initial limit is 10 percent of the franchise. Previously, teams were owned mainly by families with minority stakes sold to other individuals. Private equity makes it easier to shave off slices of the team and raise money by not relying on convincing a really rich person to make a passive investment in a football franchise.

Ben Fischer of Sports Business Journal has posted the initial parameters of the policy. The maximum will be 10 percent, whether it’s from one fund or multiple. The minimum investment by any one fund will be three percent.

Any given fund can own pieces of up to SIX different teams, which could make for some bizarre rooting interests. The same fund can hold, for example, a piece …