Ari Emanuel and Mark Shapiro, top execs at WME and TKO Group, are buying small ownership stakes in the Las Vegas Raiders.
A spokesperson for Emanuel and Shapiro confirmed that the sports and entertainment executives will take individual, personal stakes in the Raiders. The deal, expected to close later this month, will see them become minority owners in the team.
Mark Davis, son of legendary Raiders owner Al Davis, will continue to be the controlling shareholder of the team. In addition to Shapiro and Emanuel, others buying stakes in the Raiders are Dell Technologies founder Michael Dell and Joseph Baratta, Blackstone’s global head of private equity.
In addition, Egon Durban, CEO of private-equity firm Silver Lake (which controls both TKO and WME), and real-estate developer Michael Meldman are both increasing their ownership shares in the Raiders.
After the deals close, Emanuel will own 1.4% of the Raiders and Shapiro will hold a 0.6% interest in the team, Sports Business Journal reported. Durban’s stake will increase to 22% and Meldman’s will go up to 12.9%; Baratta will own 1.7%.
The Durban-led investments in the Raiders value the team at around $9.9 billion, CNBC reported last week.
This is Emanuel and Shapiro’s first move into NFL ownership. However, Shapiro has some longstanding ties to the league: In 2005, he acquired the rights to “Monday Night Football” while running programming and production at ESPN, and later created the NFL Honors. He also led Endeavor Group Holdings’ acquisition of premium experiential hospitality business On Location, which is the NFL’s exclusive hospitality provider, from Bruin and RedBird Capital Partners. Shapiro is also a minority owner of Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles Football Club.
Emanuel and Shapiro are longtime business partners. At TKO, which comprises UFC, WWE, PBR, On Location and IMG, Emanuel serves as CEO and Shapiro is president and COO.
After Endeavor went private in 2025 in a deal with Silver Lake, it changed its public-facing name to WME Group, reflecting the core representation business of entertainment agency WME. Emanuel is the executive chairman of WME Group and Shapiro is president and managing partner.
The Raiders were established in Oakland, California, in 1960 as the eighth charter member of the American Football League and joined the NFL in 1970. In 1982, the Raiders moved to the Los Angeles Coliseum — and then in 1995, moved back to their original city of Oakland. In 2020, the Raiders announced that they were moving the franchise to Las Vegas and began playing at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada, the same year.
Al Davis was the principal owner of the Raiders from 1972 until his death in 2011, when control of the franchise transferred to his son Mark Davis.
