National Football League’s investment trust backs two PE funds

A National Football League-owned trust fund has made at least two private equity commitments since 2020 in a mirror image of the trend of private equity managers investing in professional sports.

Private equity managers have flocked to sports opportunities in recent years, seeing the opportunities in the industry’s booming valuations. The NFL’s interest in traditional private equity is a unique flip on the typical arrangement.

According to documents reviewed by Buyouts, the National Football League Reciprocal Trust made a $10 million commitment to HarbourVest’s tenth Dover Street secondaries offering and a commitment of an unknown size to a Vitruvian Partners feeder fund.

Both commitments were made in 2020, documents show.

The NFL Reciprocal Trust manages the assets of two separate entities used for the retirement needs of team and league employees who are not players, according to various documents.

The first is the National Football League Club Employees’ Pension Plan – the type of corporate defined benefits plan that routinely invests in private equity. According to the Department of Labor, the pension had $2.1 billion in AUM at the end of 2020 with more than 10,000 participants.

The trust fund also manages money for the National Football League Capital Accumulation Plan, the official name of the 401(k) plan offered to team and league employees, according to documents made available by the Green Bay Packers.

It’s not clear if the Reciprocal Trust’s investments fuel the league’s 401(k) in any way.

An NFL spokesperson declined to answer any questions related to the NFL Reciprocal Trust, employees’ pension or 401(k) plan.

Both the pension and 401(k) use the same investment committee to establish its investment policies and select outside advisers and consultants, documents show.

The investment committee may also hire an in-house management team, according to information included in a complaint filed by a former vice president of the Miami Dolphins against the team.

The NFL spokesperson declined to name who manages or advises the trust.

According to publicly available biographies, Detroit Lions president Ron Wood, Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan, Houstin Texans CEO Cal McNair and Kansas City Chiefs executive vice president Kristen Krug have served on the investment committee.