Josh Blank, whose billionaire father, Arthur, owns the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League, has been named vice president of executive strategy at Arthur M. Blank Sports and Entertainment (AMBSE), in a move that could be viewed as being part of a succession plan for the family’s sports holdings.
Arthur Blank, 81, is the co-founder of Home Depot and has owned the Falcons since 2002. His AMBSE firm also owns Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Major League Soccer’s Atlanta United and several PGA Tour Superstore retail locations. While the NFL is working on a framework to let owners sell up to 30% of their team to private equity, Blank has previously detailed his intent to keep the Falcons in his family.
“We have no plans for the franchise to not be in the family,” Arthur Blank told The Athletic in 2021. “We are required once a year to submit a succession plan to the NFL. The league went through difficult [family estate] situations with the [New Orleans] Saints, Denver [Broncos] and Indianapolis [Colts]. It’s not a happy thing. It was ugly.”
After graduating from Elon University in 2020, Josh Blank joined the NFL’s junior rotational program before being hired as a full-time associate in the NFL’s club business development. The junior rotational program is a common landing spot for the children of NFL team owners, according to Sports Business Journal’s Ben Fischer.
The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation serves as the family’s philanthropic arm, while AMB Group LLC manages investments for the family.