Ghislaine Maxwell, the former associate of Jeffrey Epstein now serving a 20-year prison sentence for child sex trafficking, told Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche last month that she believed Epstein once owned Riddell, the football helmet manufacturer.
In reality, Epstein never owned Riddell outright. However, he was a key investor in the company during the late 1980s and early 1990s—a period marked by organizational upheaval and ownership changes that led to Riddell’s core sports equipment business being sold off while its remaining corporate entity evolved into Varsity Brands.
Maxwell raised Epstein’s ties to Riddell during the second day of a two-day interview, occurring July 24-25, transcripts of which were released last Friday by the Department of Justice. The interview has drawn criticism from some observers, who argue the DOJ interviewed Maxwell, who was granted limited immunity, in an effort to downplay narratives that have stirred national suspicion over President Donald Trump’s past ties with Epstein.
When Blanche inquired of Maxwell’s understanding of how Epstein had made his money, Maxwell said that before they had met, he owned businesses, including “a sports thing” called Riddell. Then she added a caveat: “He told me he owned it, but of course, I can’t say that for sure.”
Indeed, it’s more complicated than that.
Epstein’s investment in Riddell corresponded with Robert Nederlander Sr.—the Broadway theater magnate and Yankees minority owner—becoming the company’s CEO and chairman in April 1988. Nederlander had led a group of investors to acquire the company from MacGregor Sporting Goods Inc. for $30 million. According to a 2003 Vanity Fair article, Epstein put $1.8 million toward the venture and later disclosed the value of his investment during a legal dispute with the Manhattan landlord of his office space.
Nederlander, now 92, did not respond to an email and phone message left with his entertainment company.
Epstein’s name surfaces again in a 1997 SEC registration statement filed by Varsity Spirit, the cheerleading apparel company founded by Jeff Webb, which Riddell acquired for $91 million. Varsity Spirit bought Riddell after Epstein’s involvement with the company, and Epstein’s investment did not overlap with the Varsity Spirit purchase overseen by Webb.
In the filing, Epstein was listed as one of five individuals, alongside Nederlander, who purchased an unsecured promissory note worth $439,000 tied to Riddell. The note had originally been issued in April 1988 to Mac I, a predecessor to MacGregor Sports, and had changed hands during bankruptcy proceedings before ending up with the investor group.
At the time, Nederlander was also appointed managing general partner of the New York Yankees, following the MLB’s suspension of team owner George Steinbrenner.
Riddell’s corporate history from that era is tangled with another now-controversial figure: Bo Schembechler. The legendary college football coach and former University of Michigan athletic director served on Riddell’s board, and in recent years, Schembechler has come under posthumous scrutiny for allegedly ignoring sexual abuse claims involving UM athletic team doctor Robert Anderson. In 2021, Schembechler’s son Matthew told The Detroit News he was sexually assaulted by Anderson at age 10—and that his father punched him when he disclosed the abuse.
By 1995, Epstein had transferred his interest in the promissory note to Nederlander and several others; the note was paid off by 1997. The SEC filing from Varsity also references a 1994 settlement agreement in which Epstein, Nederlander and others were parties, though Sportico could not determine what the settlement resolved. Riddell had been involved in a number of lawsuits around this time, including as a plaintiff in an action filed against its former president Frederic H. Brooks, who also was also among the co-investors with Epstein on the promissory note. (Riddell did not respond to an email seeking comment for this story.)
Following the Varsity acquisition, Webb was named vice chairman of Riddell’s board and COO of its newly formed cheerleading division.
“I have no insight into his involvement with Riddell prior to Varsity. They were a separate company,” Webb said in a written statement provided by a spokesperson. “I never met, knew, or interacted with him in any way, and to my knowledge he had no involvement in the company during or after the merger.”
Four years after being acquired, Riddell sold off its core sports equipment business to private equity firm Lincolnshire Management. What remained—Varsity Spirit—rebranded as Varsity Brands, moved its headquarters from New York to Memphis, Tenn., and anointed Webb as president and CEO. Nederlander continued to serve as board chairman, alongside Schembechler, for several more years. (A spokesperson for Varsity said Epstein never had “any involvement with or investment in Varsity Spirit.”)
In 2003, Varsity was taken private in a $130.9 million deal backed by merchant bank Leonard Green & Partners, while Webb remained at the helm. Over the next two decades, Varsity grew dramatically—through consolidation and acquisitions—culminating in its $4.75 billion sale from Bain Capital to KKR last year. Throughout its expansion, Varsity has faced lawsuits alleging anti-competitive practices and a culture of sexual abuse within youth cheerleading.
Meanwhile, in 2003, Riddell itself was acquired from Lincolnshire by private equity firm Fenway Partners (not to be confused with Fenway Sports Group), which continues to own the company. Riddell has since been the target of numerous lawsuits related to concussions and head injuries suffered by football players, including a significant number of former NFL athletes.
(This story has been updated in the third-to-last paragraph to include a statement from Varsity, and with a statement from Jeff Webb in the fourth-to-last paragraph. It has also been updated in the eighth paragraph to clarify that Varsity’s ownership of Riddell had no overlap with Epstein’s investment.)
