TKO’s Ari Emanuel, Mark Shapiro Buy Individual Stakes In NFL Team

TKO heads Ari Emanuel and Mark Shapiro are getting into the NFL game, buying individual minority stakes in the Las Vegas Raiders. Deadline reports that Emanuel and Shapiro have made personal investments in the team, which will give them both stakes of less than 10% in the team once the deal closes. Said deals could close by the end of the month.

The majority owner of the Raiders is Mark Davis, who took over the franchise after his father Al passed away in 2011. Davis has been selling off stakes in the team in recent years, with Tom Brady among those who have bought small stakes. Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reported yesterday that Egon Durban, the head of Silver Lake who has a controlling interest in TKO and WME Group, is seeking to double his interest in the team to 22%. NFL owners will vote on that soon.

Shapiro and Emanuel’s staks are strictly personal ands not connected to TKO, WME Holdings or MARI. TKO doers significant business in Las Vegas, with the UFC being headquartered out of the city and WWE of course having held WrestleMania there the past two years. Shapiro has dealt with the NFL many times over his career, including helping land the Mondey Night Football rights for ESPN in 2005 when he was at the latter company.