Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores has reached an agreement to buy a 27% stake in the Los Angeles Chargers, according to three people familiar with the details. The deal still requires approval from NFL owners.
If completed, the transaction would end a years-long saga involving the four children of Alex Spanos, the longtime owner who bought the Chargers in 1984 for $72 million and died in 2018. Financial terms of the transaction were not available. Last month, Sportico valued the Chargers at $5.22 billion, 18th in the NFL.
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Representatives for the Chargers, Pistons and Gores declined to comment. Sports Business Journal was the first to report the news.
Alex Spanos’ four kids—Dean, Dea, Michael and Alexandra—own 15% of the Chargers on their own, with another 36% total held in a family trust. In 2021, Dea Spanos Berberian filed a petition in Los Angeles County Superior Court to try and force a Chargers sale. A year later, she filed a petition that accused her brother and fellow co-trustee, Chargers chairman Dean Spanos, of breaching his fiduciary duty to the trust. Berberian also accused Dean and their brother, Chargers vice chairman Michael Spanos, of orchestrating a “campaign to punish, belittle and humiliate” her.
Gores is buying Berberian’s 15% personal stake and her 9% stake in the family trust, as well as 1% from each of Dean Spanos’ other children. The deal would leave each Spanos with a 24% stake, while Gores will hold 27%. Dean, Alexis and Michael are selling 1% apiece for estate planning purposes, according to someone familiar with the details.
The transaction would end all of Berberian’s legal disputes against her siblings and the Chargers.
Berberian has explored the sale of her Chargers stake for more than a year. A deal with Clearlake Capital Group co-founders Behdad Eghbali and Jose Feliciano fell apart over the control issue. The Gore transaction does not include any path to control, and Dean Spanos will continue to maintain full control of the Chargers.
The Chargers had the second-lowest revenue in the NFL last year, as they are a tenant at SoFi Stadium where Stan Kroenke and the Los Angeles Rams control almost all of the revenue streams. But playing in the NFL’s second-biggest market is a boost to the value, on top of the $400 million-plus annual check from the league’s rich TV deals.
Gores bought the Pistons for $325 million in 2011. The team has made the playoffs only twice under Gores and finished with the NBA’s worst overall record two straight years, including a 28-game losing streak last season. The Pistons fired coach Monty Williams one season into his record-breaking six-year, $78 million contract. The Pistons are valued at $3.1 billion, 25th in the NBA, according to Sportico.
The deal does not impact Gores’ role as owner of the Pistons.
Gores is worth $9.4 billion, according to Forbes. In 1995, he founded L.A.-based private equity firm Platinum Equity. Last month, NFL owners approved investment by a handful of PE firms, but this transaction is a personal investment for Gores and does not involve Platinum.
The deal is expected to go up for a vote at next month’s NFL owners meetings.
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