There could be changes at the ownership level within the San Francisco 49ers organization.
Majority owner Jed York has reportedly told local media that he has been entertaining "weekly probes" about buying part of the 97 percent stake the family owns. Now it appears he's accepted one.
York says the team is completing a sale of more than six percent of the ownership stake to three Bay Area families.
The timing is ... fun, as QB Brock Purdy just agreed to his new five-year, $265 million deal.
Sportico reported the sale would be completed at a franchise valuation of more than $8.5 billion, making it the largest valuation of a franchise in a transaction. The team declined to comment on the proposed sale but the NFL is expected to approve the transaction at the spring owners meetings next week.
"It's just one of those things where if there's an opportunity that makes sense, we would always explore that, but I'm not sure what we're going to end up doing," York said then. "And if we do, we would try to find the right people who would help bolster everything that we're doing in and around the team, on the field, off the field, and just make sure that we had good partners that are with us."
York said in March at the league meeting that the family had considered a sale of up to 10 percent of its ownership, calling it a "family asset allocation decision" as some family members wanted to sell.
The Los Angeles Chargers have also requested permission from the NFL to sell up to an eight percent stake to a private investment firm.