The stage is set for David Tepper to complete his purchase of the Carolina Panthers.
Tepper’s bid to buy the Panthers from Jerry Richardson was the first order of business at this week’s league meetings in Atlanta and it has been dispatched in short order. The finance committee approved the deal on Tuesday ahead of a vote by all of the league’s owners and the league announced on Tuesday afternoon that they have also given the deal the green light. The purchase was approved by a unanimous vote of the other 31 teams.
Tepper is set to pay $2.275 billion for the franchise, which has been owned by Richardson since it entered the league as an expansion team for the 1995 season. Richardson put the team up for sale after allegations of workplace misconduct and settlements with employees for such misconduct became public late last year. Tepper addressed that briefly in a press conference Tuesday.
“I’m a person that believes in equality for everybody, men and women,” Tepper said, via Mark Maske of the Washington Post.
Tepper also said that the Panthers will remain in Charlotte and that he does not anticipate any big moves within the organization upon taking control of the team.
Tepper previously owned a piece of the Steelers, which means he’d been vetted by the league before bidding on the Panthers and that helped make for a smooth trip through the approval process. The deal is expected to become official in July.