Sources: Panthers to be sold for record $2.2 billion

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Carolina Panthers are being sold for an NFL-record $2.2 billion.

Hedge fund manager David Tepper has agreed to buy the Panthers from team founder Jerry Richardson, two people familiar with the situation said Tuesday. The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team has not yet announced the sale.

The purchase is subject to a vote at the NFL owners meeting next week in Atlanta.

Richardson announced in December that he was selling the team amid an NFL investigation into sexual and racial misconduct in the workplace. That decision came after a report by Sports Illustrated detailing Richardson’s alleged misconduct.

The league’s investigation into the allegations is still ongoing.

The price tag is the most ever paid for an NFL franchise, eclipsing the $1.4 billion the Pegula family paid to purchase the Buffalo Tepper Bills in 2014.

Ben Navarro, the founder and CEO of Sherman Financial Group, was considered Tepper’s biggest competitor in the bid to purchase the Panthers. He conceded Tuesday that he’d lost the bid.

“My family and I are grateful to have had the opportunity to be included as a potential buyer of one of the premier assets in all of the Carolinas — the Panthers football team,” Navarro said in an email to The Associated Press. “It would have been a privilege to become the stewards of this iconic franchise to ensure its home remains in the Carolinas where it belongs, to establish a new era of leadership and excellence on and off the field, and to leverage the team’s NFL platform to further our quest to help all children gain access to a great education.”

Tepper’s plans on whether the team will remain in Charlotte for the long-term future remain unclear. Richardson