NFL owners on Tuesday, Oct. 20, approved a new investment partnership between 32 Equity, the league’s in-house investment arm, and the private equity firm General Atlantic. The vote came on the first day of the fall meeting in New York and is designed to give the league far more money and reach for its business investments.
The two sides said in a joint statement that they “aim to advance new ways for people to experience and engage with sports, broaden access across markets around the world, and back innovative companies developing new technologies, platforms and experiences shaping the industry’s future.” Financial terms were not disclosed, and a league representative declined to give a target size for the new vehicle.
BREAKING: The @NFL is partnering with General Atlantic on a new investment fund. This will turbo-charge 32 Equity, the league's investment arm, and create a GP structure where the league shares in carry on investments.
— Eben Novy-Williams (@novy_williams) October 20, 2026
That's a new revenue stream for the world's richest league pic.twitter.com/oEhML69wMX
Why it matters to the owners
The key change is the structure. According to Eben Novy-Williams, the NFL will be the general partner in the new vehicle, so owners would earn both the gains on their stakes and a share of the “carry,” the cut of profits that fund managers normally keep. That kind of income does not exist anywhere else in the league’s business today. Both 32 Equity and General Atlantic will put money in, and the venture is also expected to raise capital from outside investors.
Money from 32 Equity also sits outside the revenue that owners share with players under the salary cap. Its profits are split among the 32 clubs, which makes it different from sponsorships or media rights deals.
The new venture plans to target sports media, fan engagement, ticketing, hospitality, consumer products and the technology and services around them, according to Ben Fischer.
What 32 Equity is
- Founded: 2013, with $1 million from each of the 32 clubs.
- Size: the owners added $64 million in 2019 and $160 million in 2022, for $256 million in committed capital before investment returns.
- Holdings: stakes in more than 40 companies, including Fanatics, On Location and the identity-verification company Clear. Late last year owners also authorized $32 million from the fund to help seed a new professional flag football league.
- Exits: Appetize, a point-of-sale software company, was sold for $450 million in 2021, and the mobile gaming company Skillz went public in 2020.
- Leadership: it is run by Sumit Varshney, senior vice president of corporate strategy and strategic investments, who reports to league chief financial officer Christine Dorfler. PJT Partners advised 32 Equity on the deal.
Dorfler said last November that talks were under way on how to grow the fund. “It’s been very successful, but is there a different structure that can help us scale it even further?” she said at the time. Some owners and executives had been pushing the league to invest more aggressively.
Who General Atlantic is
Founded in 1980, General Atlantic manages about $130 billion. Its portfolio includes the apparel brand Vuori and a nonalcoholic beer maker, and earlier this year it bought a 49 percent stake in the Mexican soccer club Club América.
Other leagues have their own investment arms, including the NBA’s equity platform and MLS’s Emerging Ventures division, but none has grown to the size of the NFL’s.
The rest of the fall meeting
The same day, owners approved Arctos buying a 7.5 percent stake in the Atlanta Falcons and G-5 stadium financing for the Cleveland Browns, as WhyNFL reported in its Day 1 roundup. A vote on Jean Eric Salata’s 2.1 percent stake in the Miami Dolphins and a decision on the league’s secondary ticketing partner were still pending when the meeting moved into its second day on Wednesday, Oct. 21. Roger Goodell is expected to speak when it closes.
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