The Carolina Panthers have announced that the sale of the franchise to hedge fund manager David Tepper has been finalized.
“I am thrilled to have been selected to be the next owner of the Carolina Panthers,” Tepper said in a statement. “I have learned a great deal about the community and the team over the past several months and look forward to becoming part of the Carolinas. I want to thank Jerry Richardson and the other Panthers partners for all they have done to establish and develop the NFL in the Carolinas. It has been a remarkable 25-year journey and I promise to build upon the Panthers’ success on the field and in the community.”
Tepper will purchase the franchise for $2.2 to $2.3 billion from Jerry Richardson, who put the team up for sale last December following allegations of workplace misconduct. Richardson put out a statement per the team's official site expressing his gratitude for the decades of support from the community as well as his best wishes for his successor.
Tepper still has to be approved by the NFL owners during the Spring League Meeting in Atlanta on May 21-23, but that’s expected to be a mere formality.
Tepper, who has long been the considered the favorite to buy the Panthers, has been a minority owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2009. He is expected to keep the Panthers in Charlotte, which was likely a key factor in his bid being chosen.
Tepper will inherit a promising Panthers team which has won at least 10 wins in three of the last five years and is a couple years removed from reaching Super Bowl 50.
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