TAMPA, Fla. — Erik Largen is cheering on the Tampa Bay Lightning from afar.
Really far.
The Alaska resident has a special rooting interest in the team. He’s a minority owner of Tampa Bay’s two-time defending Stanley Cup champion hockey team.
What You Need To Know
- The Lightning have a lot of minority owners — thousands, in fact
- Alaska residents invested in the Alaska Permanent Fund have a stake in Arctos Sports, a private equity fund that invested in the Tampa Bay Lightning
- GAME 4: Lightning look to even Stanley Cup Final against Avalanche
Largen, whose ownership share in the Bolts is more like a sliver, is one of thousands who have ownership shares of the private equity fund that owns a small share of the Lightning.
Largen, who is the head hockey coach at the University of Alaska, is invested in the Alaska Permanent Fund, as are most Alaskans.
The fund recently invested $50 million with Arctos Sports Partners, a private equity fund that buys limited shares of professional sports teams, including the Lightning.
That means Largen, and many other Alaskans, technology are minority owners of the Bolts.
"Arctos, which is a private equity fund which owns the Tampa Bay Lightning, was an investment with the state of Alaska, so we all have small, minority ownership in the Tampa Bay Lightning.” Largen said. “Every citizen in the state of Alaska."
The State of Alaska collects lots of money in tax revenue from big oil. That money then gets invested on behalf of Alaska residents, who all have a stake. The fund also pays out a little more than $1,000 per year to every Alaskan.
And that tiny stake gives Alaskans a rooting favorite in the Stanley Cup Final.
“You see the value of sports franchises continuing to rise,” Largen said. “So I think it's a great investments strategy from the state and obviously you pay a little more attention to it, and right now we are investing more because of where the price of oil is at.
“It's helping our state’s economy, so, you know, hopefully Tampa keeps going."