WASHINGTON (USA TODAY)--The Carolina Panthers are expected to be sold to David Tepper for $2.2 billion, a figure that will set the record for the highest sale price of an NFL team and make it one of the most expensive U.S. professional sports franchises ever purchased.
Tepper, a hedge fund founder and currently a minority owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, is one of 109 billionaires who own the top 140 sports brands, according to a joint report released in October from money manager UBS and consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The proposed Panthers sale highlights an upward trajectory for the value of professional teams in major sports. It's a far cry from the $100 George Halas purchased the Chicago Bears for in 1920. (The team now is valued at $2.85 billion, per Forbes).
Here's a look at nine more of the most expensive sports franchise purchases from the four major professional sports in the U.S.:
► $2.3 billion — Brooklyn Nets (2017): Joe Tsai, the co-founder of the Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding, bought a 49% minority stake from Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, with the option to acquire controlling interest in 2021. The transaction did not include Barclays Center, and its value eclipsed the previous NBA record for the Houston Rockets.
► $2.2 billion — Houston Rockets (2017): Tilman Fertitta, a restaurant and casino businessman who starred on CNBC's Billion Dollar Buyer, spent a then-record amount to buy the team from Les Alexander.
► $2 billion — Los Angeles Clippers (2014): Microsoft executive Steve Ballmer was the first to cross the $2 billion threshold for an NBA club when he took ownership from the Sterling family.
► $2 billion — Los Angeles Dodgers (2012): NBA legend and current Lakers president Magic Johnson, Guggenheim partners and Stan Kasten made history in 2012, paying the most for a MLB team.
► $1.4 billion — Buffalo Bills (2014): The husband and wife team of Terry and Kim Pegula, who already owned the NHL's Buffalo Sabres, paid the most for a team in NFL history before the proposed Panthers sale.
► $1.4 billion — Seattle Mariners (2016): John Stanton, the founder of Western Wireless Corporation, led a group of minority owners to purchase majority control of the team from Nintendo of America.
► $1.2 billion — Miami Marlins (2017): Yankees legend Derek Jeter and a group led by New York businessman Bruce Sherman purchased the Marlins from then-owner Jeffrey Loria. The team hasn't reached the playoffs since it won the World Series in 2003 -- the longest drought in the National League.
► $1.1 billion — Miami Dolphins (2008): American real-estate developer Stephen Ross bought the franchise and has since brought in Gloria Estefan, Marc Anthony and Venus and Serena Williams as minority owners.
► $1 billion — Cleveland Browns (2012): Tennessee businessman Jimmy Haslam bought the franchise from the Lerner family, which paid $530 million to bring the Browns back to the NFL in 1999 after a four-year absence.
