Sources - Pistons owner Tom Gores set to buy stake in Chargers - ESPN

LOS ANGELES — Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores has agreed to purchase a limited share of the Chargers, multiple sources confirmed to ESPN on Friday.

Gores has an agreement in place to purchase 27% of the franchise, which includes the 24% owned by Dea Spanos Berberian and 1% owned by the three other Spanos siblings, Dean, Michael and Alexis Spanos Ruhl. The deal will need final approval from NFL owners and a source told ESPN it is expected to be on the agenda at the NFL league meetings in Atlanta next month.

The siblings each agreed to sell 1% for estate planning purposes, according to a source. The NFL and the Chargers declined to comment.

Sports Business Journal first reported the deal earlier Friday.

The sale would end a tumultuous few years for the Spanos family. Berberian filed multiple lawsuits dating back to 2021, including one that sought to force the sale of the Chargers. As part of this deal, however, Berberian agreed to drop her lawsuits against the Chargers and Dean Spanos, according to a source.

Under this transaction, Dean Spanos will still have complete control of the franchise. Spanos and his two siblings will own 69% of the team. Non-family members own the remaining 4% of the Chargers.

This would be the second sports franchise Gores has an ownership stake in after purchasing the Pistons in 2011, which he did along with his private equity firm, Platinum Equity. In 2015, Gores bought out Platinum Equity's shares in the Pistons to become the full owner.

The Chargers deal will be a personal investment for Gores, a source told ESPN, and not part of Platinum Equity. Gores will have no governance rights over the team as part of the deal.

This is the first known agreed-upon potential transaction since the league