NHL Tampa Bay Lightning stake sold to investor group | Wilnesh News

The Tampa Bay Lightning ownership group is expanding.

Vinik Sports Group, run by investment magnate Jeff Vinik, is selling a portion of the National Hockey League team to a group of investors led by Doug Ostrover and Marc Lipschultz.

Terms of the deal have not been disclosed but were disclosed earlier Report Said valuation is close to $2 billion. Based on the team’s valuation when it was sold to Vinik in 2010, the deal represents a compound annual growth rate of approximately 18%.

The deal was approved by the NHL Board of Governors on October 1 and will be effective immediately, according to a press release. After the deal is completed, Vinik will retain control of the team and continue to serve as team director for the next three years. At that point, control will pass to Ostrover and Lipschulz.

Private equity firms have been racing to acquire stakes in U.S. professional sports teams.

As valuations of professional sports teams soar, so do deals.

Arctos Partners will also sell part of its ownership and remain a minority shareholder as part of the flash deal announced Thursday.

Ostrover and Lipschultz are co-CEOs of Blue Owl Capital, an asset management firm with sports strategy funds. They met Vinik through their relationship with Arctos.

Arctos has a deep investment base in sports and is one of the most recent private equity investors approved to take a stake in the NFL. The firm closed its second sports-focused fund earlier this year, with total commitments of $4.1 billion and holdings in about 20 sports and esports teams.

Since 2020, the Lightning have won two Stanley Cups and three championships. Vinik launched in 2010 report $110 million, and billions of dollars have since been invested in real estate development in downtown Tampa Bay.