Former NFL wide receiver turned announcer Cris Collinsworth is landing a huge payday.
Pro Football Focus, the company owned by Collinsworth, is being sold for a hefty price. According to a report by Arif Hasan in his Wide Left Substack, the company is being sold for between $130 million and $140 million. It's being sold to software and analytics company Teamworks.
"The sale is moving forward after PFF initially opened itself up to private investment several years ago, securing a $50 million investment from private equity firm Silver Lake. Collinsworth purchased a majority stake in PFF back in 2014. Per Hasan, Silver Lake's investment valued PFF at $160 million, with one source saying the company was valued at $223 million at its peak," Awful Announcing reported.
Collinsworth's company and its player grades have been featured on NBC's "Sunday Night Football" for several years.
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - JANUARY 19: NBC Broadcaster Cris Collinsworth looks on before the game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Los Angeles Rams during the NFC Divisional Playoff at Lincoln Financial Field on January 19, 2025 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) Mitchell Leff/Getty Images
However, not everyone is a fan of them.
Former NFL star J.J. Watt was among those to speak out.
"You can't watch film on TV copy and create a grade," CBS NFL analyst J.J. Watt said in an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show last season. "You can't break down a person's grade and know what they're supposed to do if you don't now their exact assignment. I know defensive line play unbelievably well. I could not go and grade a game for a player and give him a definitive grade without speaking to him, his coach, the scheme, everything. It's a fact. PFF has a ton of great stuff. Player grading sucks. Stopping putting it out."
Pro Football Focus's future is unclear right now
Will PFF remain a part of NBC's "Sunday Night Football" broadcasts. Will something change in a major way?
Per Hasan, "It seems as if Teamworks, which does virtually nothing on the content side themselves or with any of their acquired properties, doesn't have a media plan at the outset. There's no clear understanding of what may happen to the fantasy/gambling sides of PFF either."
Hasan continues, "What seems to be clear, however, is that Pro Football Focus management - who seemed to be aware of the imminence of the deal weeks ago - only informed those working for PFF's business-to-business side. Those working on the content or consumer side weren't given much information from the company and learned second- or third-hand."
Pro Football Focus has a lot of data, and a lot of programs, that could be of value to Teamworks.
What remains to be seen is what will happen to the content side of things.
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