Kentucky Retirement Aims for Big Score with $70M Investment in NFL-Focused PE Fund 

The $10 billion Kentucky County Employees’ Retirement System (CERS) has greenlit two additional commitments to existing fund managers within its private equity and real assets portfolios. 

The standout commitment from CERS was a $70 million investment in Arctos Partners’ Arctos American Football Fund, designed to acquire stakes in National Football League (NFL) teams. This follows the NFL’s 2024 decision to permit private equity investments, with firms like Ares Management and Sixth Street Partners also approved to take up to 10% stakes in franchises. 

This commitment builds on CERS’ $250 million investment in Arctos Sports Partners Fund II in 2023. Fund II targets minority stakes in Major League Baseball (MLB) teams, following the firm’s pioneering Fund I, which holds interests in over 20 teams across sports. These funds provide access to tangible assets like ticket sales and royalties. 

CERS also approved a $70 million add-on commitment to Maritime Partners’ American Rivers Fund, a strategy centered on leasing barges and towboats to operators on U.S. inland waterways. CERS first backed the fund in 2023 within its real assets portfolio. 

The Maritime Partners allocation follows the real asset strategy investment in ITE Management’s ITE Rail Fund in January.