We all had fun speculating who could buy the Carolina Panthers. From Diddy and Steph Curry to a bunch of NASCAR team owners, drivers and executives, many were considering bidding. But in the end, given the other NFL owners needed to approve these new owners, they’re set to unsurprisingly accept a bid from someone who is already in the NFL owners club.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Seth Wickersham report that Pittsburgh Steelers minority owner David Tepper is set to sign the paperwork to buy the Panthers. Once the paperwork is signed, the owners will vote next Tuesday to likely approve.
Steelers’ minority owner David Tepper is expected to sign the deal today to buy the Panthers and keep them in Carolina, league sources tell @SethWickersham and me. The deal then would be expected to be approved at the owners meetings in Atlanta on May 22.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 15, 2018
Tepper’s bid wasn’t the highest but it was $2.2 billion and that’s close enough to the high bids of $2.5 billion that was floated around. Given Tepper is already in the club of NFL owners and already like him, in addition to pledging to keep the team in Charlotte, he got a “discount.”
Tepper would need to sell his five percent share of the Steelers before buying the Panthers, following in the heels of Jimmy Haslam, who bought the Cleveland Browns after being a Steelers owner. Let’s hope Tepper does a better job than Haslam.
[ESPN]
