NFL Rumors: Pistons' Tom Gores Set to Buy Chargers Minority Ownership Stake

Detroit Pistons governor Tom Gores is set to join the ownership group of the Los Angeles Chargers.

Per Ben Fischer and Chris Smith of the Sports Business Journal, Gores has a deal in place to purchase 27 percent of the NFL franchise.

The deal is pending approval from the NFL's other team owners at a vote scheduled for the league's annual fall meeting taking place from Oct. 15-16 in Atlanta.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk noted Gores will not have any path to a controlling stake, nor will he have any day-to-day involvement with the club.

Chargers' ownership was in a state of uncertainty for a brief period due to a dispute between controlling owner Dean Spanos and his sister, Dea Spanos Berberian.

The Athletic's Daniel Kaplan reported in August 2022 that Berberian, who filed a petition seeking the sale of the team in 2021 because the family trust was in significant debt, backed off her efforts to force a sale.

Kaplan noted the Spanos family trust, which owns 36 percent of the Chargers, noted Berberian's motion filed in court said that selling something less than that full stake "in an orderly, professional and cooperative fashion could resolve the Trust's financial problems."

Eben Novy-Williams and Scott Soshnick of Spotrico reported in March 2023 that Berberian was looking to sell 24 percent of the franchise, including her personal 15 percent stake, and the equity she holds via the family trust.

After NFL owners voted in August to allow private equity funds to purchase a stake of up to 10 percent in a franchise, the Chargers were among the teams mentioned as potentially being interested in such a scenario.

Financial details of the sale are unclear at this point. Using Forbes' team value rankings, the Chargers are worth $5.1 billion. A 27 percent stake at that valuation would equate to $1.38 billion.

Gores, who has an estimated net worth of $9.4 billion, became the Pistons' majority governor in June 2011. He became the sole governor in September 2015 by purchasing the 49 percent stake held by Platinum Equity.

The Spanos family has been the controlling owner of the Chargers since 1984 when Alexander Spanos, father of Dean and Dea, purchased the club. Dean took over day-to-day operations in 1994 when he was named team president and CEO.