TAMPA, Fla. — The Lightning are in the process of selling a minority stake in the team in a transaction valuing the club at $1.4 billion, according to a report from Sportico.
Arctos Sports Partners, a New York- and Dallas-based private equity firm that invests passive minority ownership shares in professional sports franchises, first purchased a stake in the Lightning in late 2021 from Jeff Vinik and now aims to buy a larger share of the team’s ownership.
The purchase would need a waiver from the NHL, because Arctos’ share of the team would exceed the 20% maximum share allowed for a private equity, according to the Sportico report. The league also doesn’t allow more than a 30% ownership of any club by a private equity.
The Lightning had no comment on the report.
The valuation points to the Lightning’s increasing value since Vinik purchased the team for just $170 million in 2010. In its latest NHL team valuations released in December, Forbes valued the Lightning at $1 billion, 14th-highest in the league but a 54% increase from the previous year. According to Forbes’ most recent list, the league’s top five most valuable teams were all large-market Original Six teams: the Rangers ($2.2 billion), Maple Leafs ($2 billion), Canadiens ($1.85 billion), Blackhawks ($1.5 million) and Bruins ($1.4 million). The Kings ranked sixth at $1.3 billion, the Oilers seventh at $1.275 billion.
Since purchasing the Lightning, Vinik has turned the Lightning into one of the most successful franchises in professional sports both on and off the ice. He also has transformed the area around Amalie Arena through the Water Street project, development by Strategic Property Partners firm, which is co-owned by Vinik and Bill Gates’ Cascade Investment.
Vinik Sports Group owns the Lightning and the lease on Amalie Arena, manages Yuengling Center on the USF campus in Tampa and holds multimedia rights for USF intercollegiate sports.
On the ice, the Lightning have made nine playoff appearances during the past decade, including six conference finals appearances, four trips to the Stanley Cup Final and back-to-back Cup championships in 2020 and 2021.
Arctos calls their investments passive, aimed at “providing customized liquidity and passive growth capital solutions” to team owners. When Arctos first bought a share in the Lightning in 2021, Vinik said the sale would cause “no noticeable ripples” in the running of the team. There would be no new executives or directors within the operation of the club and arena, and Arctos’ influence would be “severely limited.”
Arctos also owns shares in the Minnesota Wild, as well as the Pittsburgh Penguins through the Fenway Sports Group and New Jersey Devils through Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment. The league’s private equity policy allows non-voting minority stakes in up to five different teams.
