Dear John,
Superbowl Sunday is here! Whether you’re a part of the Chiefs’ “Kingdom,” or flying high for the Eagles, here’s one thing you need to know:
Shady investors might ruin football!
While we’re all chowing down on nachos, here’s something else for us to chew on:
The same private equity investors who have already ransacked our healthcare system, our housing market, and even our grocery stores, now want to tackle your favorite football team -- which could make it even more expensive to cheer them on!
That’s right, the NFL has announced that private equity firms will now be allowed to invest in the league’s franchises for the first time ever. And if there’s one thing that private equity firms know how to do, it’s blitz businesses, take control, and run off with as much profit as possible!
Check out our Superbowl Sunday Video today to see how this will spike the prices of our tickets, our hot dogs, our beer, and our paywalls! You can even play it at your Superbowl Party for the most informative halftime show ever!
We’ve seen the impact of private equity on other industries – it only scores by ruining everything it touches.
Private equity makes its money by buying up companies – often jacking up prices, cutting wages, outsourcing jobs, and stripping assets – with the priority of short-term profits above all else.
Private equity-backed real estate corporations have been buying up single-family homes and apartment complexes at a record pace. Ransacking and shuttering our hospitals. And gobbling up grocery store chains.
The results? Higher housing costs. Higher healthcare costs. And higher grocery costs.
Maybe that’s why the NFL is cautiously limiting private equity ownership to a 10 percent stake in a team, and requiring that firms serve as “silent partners” to start. But when private equity gets involved, everything tends to get more expensive and quality gets worse – while its investors get richer thanks to tax loopholes that benefit them.
Given private equity’s horrible track record, if it intercepts more control of the NFL, do you think it will drop ticket prices from their already obscene levels? Lower the price of a beer? Or stop putting games behind paywalls when you try to watch them at home?
Of course not!
Thank you for passing along this video to a friend, and spreading the word about the dangers of private equity.
Robert Reich
Inequality Media
