Steelers add 2 minority investors to ownership group

Another group of minority investors has joined the Pittsburgh Steelers ownership group.

Wall Street financiers Josh Harris and David Blitzer, who also own the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils, acquired a stake in the NFL franchise estimated at less than 5%.

The news was first reported by Bloomberg News.

“I am pleased that Josh Harris and David Blitzer have joined the Steelers ownership group,” team president Art Rooney II said in a statement. “Josh and David are successful sports business partners, and they are a welcomed addition to the Steelers family.”

With the Steelers being valued at $2.8 billion, according to the most recent Forbes estimate, a 5% share would equate to $140 million.

Harris and Blitzer are joining the Steelers as passive investors, according to the report, and they will have no say in day-to-day operations. The Steelers continued to be controlled by the Rooney family, led by Rooney II, grandson of franchise founder Art Rooney Sr.

It is the second time in a year that an ownership stake in the Steelers has changed hands. In 2019, David Tepper’s approximate 5% stake was purchased by Doug Lebda, NC Revocable Trust and Pittsburgh Steelers Sports, Inc., of which Art Rooney II is president.

Tepper had to sell his shares after purchasing the Carolina Panthers for $2.275 billion in 2018.

The Steelers ownership group had 18 investors prior to recent additions.

The newest investors, Harris and Blitzer, also own the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., and the Crystal Palace soccer club in the English Premier League. They also reportedly have shown interest in purchasing the New York Mets.