Dean Spanos is set to remain the Chargers’ controlling owner, but his siblings will soon have their respective shares in the team bought out. A deal is in place for Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores to buy a 27% stake in the franchise, as detailed by ESPN’s Kris Rhim and Michael Rothenstein. 
That share encompasses the 24% stake owned by Dea Spanos Berberian as well as the 1% shares which cover part of Dean’s share as well as the other Spanos siblings, Michael and Alexis Spanos Ruhl. The transaction – which is expected to be on the agenda during the October league meeting – still needs to be approved by the league’s owners. Provided it does, it will bring to an end legal issues which have taken place over the past several years related to the Bolts’ ownership situation.
Spanos Berberian filed multiple lawsuits dating back to 2021 in an attempt to force Dean to sell the franchise. Those suits (which cited increasing family debt as a reason to sell) drew angst among the rest of the family, although Dean had pledged in a letter two years earlier to retain an investment bank which would assist in a sale following the 2024 campaign. That will not be taking place, but a notable cash infusion is set to be received. Spanos Berberian’s suits, per the report, will be dropped as a condition of this agreement.
No details on the valuation of the Chargers is known at this point as it pertains to this agreement, but even a non-controlling share figures to check in at a massive figure given how NFL franchises have exploded in value recently. The most recent example of that trend is the sale of the Commanders, which led to Josh Harris spending $6.05 billion to purchase the team last summer.
Notably, the deal is set to be finalized not long after the NFL’s recent decision to allow private equity firms to buy minority stakes in franchises. That move brought the league in line with other North American pro sports operations, and Gores bought out Platinum Equity’s share in the Pistons in 2015 when he took over full control of that organization. Platinum Equity will not be involved in this transaction, however, per the ESPN report; Gores will individually become a minority owner.
Alex Spanos bought the then-San Diego Chargers in in 1984, and Dean took over one decade later. The latter’s tenure has, of course, primarily been defined by the franchise’s move to Los Angeles in addition to the legal battle involving his siblings. Those will be put to rest once the sale is ratified, though, and Spanos will be positioned to remain the controlling owner for the foreseeable future.
On behalf of San Diegans, I’ll keep this as civil as I can…
#*€& the Spanos family!
No more annual invasion from those barbarian Raiders fans though, so perhaps you shouldn’t be so bitter.
Well, at least now they have an owner with money.
With a terrific track record…
Uh oh, look out…He’s about to hire Marty Schottenheimer to a 10 year, $100 million contract to coach the defense
And fire him one year in
The Spanos family being possibly the worst owners in the NFL aside (they’re so inept they actually haven’t been able to even claim that title-at least they’re always in the running), suing an owner to force him/her to sell seems petty and inane. Beth Bowlen Wallace did it in Denver because the trust (probably correctly) passed her over for ownership in favor of her niece, and then the team was forced to be sold to an outside group.
Sure, there are a lot of terrible owners that we’d like to be rid of (Not Tepper-man’s a permanent reminder that, despite any personal failures, you aren’t the worst person around on any given day), but the only thing more entitled than an NFL owner is that owner’s jaded sibling who will sue to force a sale because he/she isn’t in charge. I’m not sure what the basis for any such suit should even be; it just seems like a way to tie up court and attorney time for a paperwork laden affair that will ultimately produce nothing for anyone and waste a veritable truckload of time that could’ve better spent…doing literally anything else. All of that money could probably fix a community. Or at least a stadium.
That said, the whole “private companies can now shares of teams” seems like such a terrible idea that it will be impossible to fathom. Teams are transitory enough as is in sports today; and, as bad as many owners are, this seems like a great way to make things worse. The unending obsession with driving profits up might one day finally tighten the noose around the NFL’s figurative neck and at last kill the unkillable golden goose that is their product.
Sure, that description’s dramatic, I can’t deny that, but I just can’t comprehend the need for this to happen and can’t comprehend how it couldn’t possibly make things worse than they already are. The current owners like profit, and they make money because they like making money. A corporation or investment has a duty to be profitable. Sure, there must be some lip service to how preservation of the product (the game itself) is essential for good business, but decisions are going to be weighed from a profit perspective exclusively. What little deviance there might exist in the current form could dissipate if profit seeking investors now have a duty and a voice in further steering the NFL from an entertainment/sport/business venture to purely a business entity entirely. But hey, what I know. I shop at Wal-Mart.
(Let’s Ride)
(TM)
The evolution of ownership seems destined to result in the CEO of Fan Duel or Draft Kings having a share alongside Wal-mart. Team culture and tradition as we now know it will cease to exist.
Article reads as “Dea has a history of not being able to maintain the lifestyle she believes a ‘part owner’ of an NFL team should enjoy”. Apparently her portion of Alex’s will wasn’t sufficient to control her spending, or should I quip ‘her adding void years to her credit card debt’.
Makes one wonder how this turmoil has impacted the ability of the team to function in the ‘taxation nightmare’ of CA regarding adding talent.
I’ve often questioned ‘do free agents weigh a States income tax’ deciding which franchise offers to accept.