Report: Patriots selling minority stakes at $9B valuation

Owner Robert Kraft has agreed to sell 8 percent of the New England Patriots to two investors in a deal that values the franchise at $9 billion, multiple outlets reported Thursday.

Kraft paid $172 million for the team in 1994 and celebrated three Super Bowl championships in the 2000s and three more in the 2010s behind head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady.

According to reports from CNBC and Sportico, billionaire Dean Metropoulos is buying a 5 percent stake and Sixth Street Capital is purchasing a 3 percent stake.

The minority stake sale is pending NFL approval and does not include the MLS club New England Revolution. The Kraft family still will own more than 90 percent of the Patriots.

Sixth Street is a private equity firm with more than $100 billion in assets under management. Its sports portfolio includes stakes in the San Antonio Spurs, Boston Celtics, San Francisco Giants and Spanish soccer powers Real Madrid and FC Barcelona.

Metropoulos is listed by Forbes with a net worth of $4.1 billion.

A valuation of $9-plus billion would be the second-richest ever for an NFL team. The New York Giants were valued at more than $10 billion when the Koch family agreed to buy a 10 percent stake earlier this month.

--Field Level Media