The Angelos family plans to sell the Orioles to a group led by two private equity billionaires, David Rubenstein of the Carlyle Group and Mike Arougheti of Ares Management Corp., as first reported by Sportico and John Ourand of Puck News. Andy Kostka, Pamela Wood and Danielle Allentuck of the Baltimore Banner report that various others will have smaller ownership roles — including franchise icon Cal Ripken Jr.
Neither the Orioles nor MLB have yet commented on the news. The deal cannot be made official without league approval. Longtime O’s beat reporter Dan Connolly tweets that the owners will discuss the sale agreement at a previously scheduled owners meeting next week.
It was reported back in December that Rubenstein, a Baltimore native, was in talks to purchase the club. Rubenstein will eventually become the franchise’s “control person” assuming the deal is approved. Ourand reports the sale price will be $1.725 billion, about 10 times the $173MM for which the Angelos family purchased it in 1993.
The franchise will not be sold in its entirety right away. According to Ourand, the Rubenstein group will initially acquire roughly 40% of the ownership stake. The remainder of the Angelos’ family share will be transferred once longtime owner Peter Angelos, now 94, passes away. Previous reports have indicated the family would incur significant capital gains taxes if they sell the franchise in its entirety before Peter Angelos’ death.
It could be a franchise-altering piece of news for the Orioles and their fans. The Angelos family has owned the club since 1993. It was at that time that Peter Angelos was the principal investor of a group that bought the O’s. He collapsed in 2017 due to the failure of his aortic valve, leading his wife Georgia and sons John and Lou to take on more sizeable roles.
Reports emerged in June of 2022, highlighting infighting between the family members about control of the franchise. The league evidently approved John Angelos as the club’s “control person” in 2020, but multiple lawsuits between the family members were filed. The reporting surrounding those legal disputes revealed that Georgia hired Goldman Sachs to explore a possible sale. The various family lawsuits were dropped about a year ago as part of a reported settlement. “I would say that there’s not a plan to change the principal ownership or the managing partnership and there would be no reason to,” John said in February of last year.
As that drama has been playing out behind the scenes, there has also been a lot of public uncertainty surrounding the organization. Their lease agreement with the State of Maryland for Camden Yards was set to expire at the end of 2023. John Angelos was reportedly attempting to leverage the negotiations for a new lease to acquire public land. The idea seemed to be to transform the area based on the example set by the Braves with The Battery and Truist Park, allowing the O’s to develop a mixed-use area including various retail and commercial spaces.
A new lease agreement was eventually approved in mid-December, just before the previous deal was set to expire. As part of that deal, the O’s are committed to Camden Yards for the next 15 years, which can be expanded to 30 years if a new development plan is approved in the next four years. The discussions between Rubenstein and the Angelos family briefly held up government approval of the new lease. At the time, John Angelos reportedly assured Maryland governor Wes Moore there were no plans to sell a majority share of the franchise. That now seems set to change.
On top of the stadium situation, the Orioles and Nationals have an ongoing dispute concerning the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network. The two clubs share ownership of the network but with the O’s in the majority, presently around 76% and dropping to 67% by 2032. Those details were part of the agreement between the O’s and MLB to facilitate the relocation of the Expos from Montreal to Washington and therefore into the Orioles’ territorial range. The two clubs have been battling each other over the rights free related to MASN for many years.
Jeff Barker of the Baltimore Sun reports that Rubenstein will also acquire the O’s share in MASN. It’s not yet clear if there’ll be any change in the relationship between the Orioles and the Nationals.
Then there’s the on-field product, which could perhaps be related to the ownership situation. The club has been rebuilding for much of the period after Peter Angelos’ health issues, but they quite clearly emerged from that rebuild in recent seasons. They posted terrible results from 2018 to 2021 but stockpiled young talent in the process. As their young players started graduating to the majors, they managed to go 83-79 in 2022. They followed that up with a 101-win campaign last year, winning the American League East.
Despite those better results of late, the club has made almost no moves that commit long-term money or give up their young talent in order to bolster the current roster. Their stacked farm system has led to plenty of speculation about a blockbuster deal involving someone like Dylan Cease, but nothing has materialized. Meanwhile, their free agent spending this winter has been limited to a one-year deal for reliever Craig Kimbrel.
Taken all together, there are plenty of questions to be answered about how the franchise will proceed. While many O’s fans will be happy to see the Angelos family depart, it’s unknown how different the new regime will be. If the deal is completed, a picture of the future for the franchise will gradually come into focus. As it does, it could have ramifications for the team and others such as the Nats, as well as the city of Baltimore and the State of Maryland.
Rubenstein, 74, is the co-founder and co-chairman of the Carlyle Group, a private equity company. He was born in Baltimore and Forbes estimates his net worth as $3.7 billion.
Wow
This.
Great news for Orioles’ fans.
Sooo, since they’ll only own 40% until the old man is 6 feet under what happens if he lives to 105? Ahahaha!
It’s about freaking time. How many fan bases dream of their stale owners actually selling? Hoping the Ricketts (and McCaskeys!) clan pays heed. In the meantime, so happy for O’s fans!
It means that the Angelos are still the majority owners and until Peter kicks the bucket John Angelos will still be the control person according to MLB rules for ownership.
If Peter lives to be 105, then John or one of the Angelos family will be the control person of the team.
Nutting
I have a feeling they got a diagnosis that he about to go.
owns 70% selling 40% not majority owner
Nope. Not true. They’re buying 40% now – Angelos currently owns 70%. Rubinstein will be the controlling partner.
If they divested of 40% at a team valuation of $1.725 billion and divested their share of MASN, the Angelos family would get buried alive in capital gains taxes.
They cannot sell more than the $172.5 million sale they are proposing making now. If they make more of a sale than the $173 million they invested in the team originally then the capital gains taxes kick in. That is why its being structured this way.
The Angelos family will still own 60%. They are selling 10% now with other minority partners including the estate of Tom Clancy, his former wife Wanda King, Barry Levinson, and the estate of Harvey Meyerhoff selling their shares to Rubenstein and his group. Rubenstein and his group will own a total of 40% and the Angelos will own 60% until Peter Angelos dies at which time Rubenstein and his group will have the option of purchasing the remaining 60% from the Angelos family.
Outinleft pads fans talking like he knows what the hell is going on when it’s all mouth flatulence.
Did you over hear that rumor at the rainforest cafe during winter meetings?
I got a low level taste of this when we recently wanted to sell a few rental properties we bought in 1985.
Our investment was $139k, $141 K, and $154k respectively when we bought them. The RE Agent said we should put them on the market at $1.1 million, $1.45 million, and $1.6 million.
When we talked to our tax attorney he said that they are investment property, not the home we live in, so in our tax bracket we would pay 12.3% STATE capital gains tax and then another 20% in federal long-term capital gains tax on everything over the “cost basis” or in English the $139k, $141k, and $154k we paid for them. It would have cost us $1.2 million in long-term capital gains taxes to sell those houses. More than we paid for them!!.
I know this sounds crazy but talk to a tax attorney or a good CPA. They will tell you the same thing.
In Maryland I believe their long-term capital gains tax in the Angelos tax bracket is 5.75% plus the 20% federal long-term capital gains tax.
Now imagine that at a sales price of $1.725 BILLION.for the Orioles plus whatever they will be selling their share of MASN for.
That is $311 million in capital gains taxes. Wish I could put that in bold print.
They have to wait until Peter Angelos dies and the interest in the Orioles is transferred to the individual Angelos family.
So what you are saying is that since you don’t understand any of this, you are going to try to claim that I am somehow someone else?
Put down the bottle Strawman. Drunk commenting always makes you look even dumber than you are.
The most important tax consequence is the one you are missing here, which is the step-up cost basis through inheritance. The cost basis of inherited capital investments is their market value at the time of death. The original cost basis (the price Angelos paid for the team) disappears. So at that point the heirs’ capital gains on the remaining portion of the sale are zero. I wish I could put that in bold print. Zero. One of the biggest tax dodges on the books.
Blue Skies, Exactly.
Peter Angelos’ heirs will have a cost basis of the total value of their interest in the team, so they will pay not capital gains tax at all. That is $311 million saved by waiting to complete the sale until after he dies.
They can sell $173 million interest now, or 10% of the $1.725 billion team valuation, without incurring capital gains taxes.
Then when Peter Angelos dies, the family can sell the rest of their interest in the team for $1.035 billion to the Rubenstein group of buyers.
But until then Peter Angelos will still own 60%.
From the article –
“The franchise will not be sold in its entirety right away. According to Ourand, the Rubenstein group will initially acquire roughly 40% of the ownership stake. The remainder of the Angelos’ family share will be transferred once longtime owner Peter Angelos, now 94, passes away. Previous reports have indicated the family would incur significant capital gains taxes if they sell the franchise in its entirety before Peter Angelos’ death.”
Nowhere does it way that the Rubenstein group is buying that 40% from the Angelos family. That is because they won’t be buying it from them. They will be buying 10% from the Angelos family for about $172.5 million and the remaining 30% from the other minority owners I listed above.
Then when Peter Angelos dies they will buy the remaining interest from Peter Angelos heirs.
Interesting. So is the final price determined at $172.5MM, or at a future price? Who is running the team now?
I suspect the family knows the father could be entering his final months.
If you read pieces that have been published elsewhere, once the minority purchase has been approved Rubenstein will become the team’s control person. That’s part of the deal as its being reported.
L99: According to the Sports Business Journal, as well as some other outlets, it appears that Rubenstein will be the “control person” under this deal.
sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2024/01/30/orio…
Wrong. New owners are control person. There are minority owners and Angelo’s family only owns 30%. Plus, we don’t know if there are any voting trusts, etc in place.
Angelos is out, other than as a significant minority partner
Close, but not exactly right.
Income tax basis starts with purchase price, but is then adjusted by (for simplicity sake – not using technical jargon) retained earnings and additional capital investment. That is, if the O’s have net income of $100M and only distribute $50M, then basis increases by $50M. Alternatively, if the O’s have earnings of $50M and distribute $75M, then basis decreases by $25M.
Moreover, this deal screams of no talent sale treatment. I have no personal knowledge of specifics, but there are allocations that can be made, and my guess is that the first truanch was front loaded with basis (reducing the cap gains as much as possible) and the remaining 30% effectively has zero basis (but that’s ok, because if the remainder goes to wife Georgia upon death, full step up in basis to date of death value and no estate tax because of marital deduction).
Moreover, moreover, locking in both a buyer and a purchase price should help with any valuation issues that could arise in an IRS audit of the estate tax return. So, this creates some certainty for the estate administration.
Bottom line is, no one on the outside knows the family’s basis because we don’t have the 30 years worth of books promised by John last year. So, any commentary stating anything about tax consequences here is a waste of time to read.
You could get an even cheaper owner like the Guadians Paul Dolan
So we should interpret your comments as a waste of time to read? Funny that’s exactly what I was feeling halfway through reading them.
Granted we don’t know the adjusted cost basis of the franchise but we do know that it’s wiped out by death, and can be reasonably assumed to be far less than the selling price today. I suspect in an audit the IRS might question the sale being fully under contract before death but not “completed” until afterwards as nothing more than a massive tax-avoidance scheme. We can also reasonably assume that the capital gains would be much higher on a straight sale. If it wasn’t then this scheme offers no apparent tax advantage.
Angelos doesn’t own 100% of the team. It’s around 70%. It was simple math to figure out that selling 40% of Angelos’ shares to Rubinstein made him the control owner.
Private equity billionaires, more or less hedge fund managers, are the plague of the earth. You want to cause a famine somewhere? Call these effers up.
Blotto – So true! John Henry is a commodities trader, same thing. Everything is a commodity to them. And they have no qualms about shorting stocks and taking the hard earned money of investors through manipulation. Doesn’t get much sleazier than them.
Hedge fun and money manipulator types are definately NOT good people, but would say groups causing (and caused) far more damage to individual liberties and the positive overall welfare of people in general the last century has been commies and those who still get away with espousing the same failed policies dressed up as something else.
we see this everywhere in THIS country and ww today, despite the evils of communism so easy to see for those not wearing blinders.
Well comrade, in the real world 2nd and 3rd generations tend to run the family business into the ground. Before they go under and everyone losses their job, private equity companies often come to the rescue, make the hard decisions to keep the ship afloat, and now the business and most of those jobs live on for another 50 years. That’s how it works in big-boy world.
IMO, after 30 years of the team being owned and run by a litigator, the team being under control by a couple of hedge funders is a welcome change.
Whifff-appropriate name
Yes Silas, leaving a family business to the silver-spooned, spoiled grandchildren of the founder to run is a much better plan than a professional private equity group. Try it your way. Good luck with that.
@Whifff
yes, Comrade?
Now I want to play the Command & Conquer Red Alert series again haha…
:INSERT HAPPY DANCE GIF:
Can the new ownership bring back the full traditional Oriole bird logo and ditch the cartoon bird? That would be a great improvement.
I’d rather have cartoon bird as primary and the “biblically accurate” oriole as a secondary
You think new owners want to piss off the fan base by making their first act changing the uniforms and logos that the fans love. That would be stupid and would never happen. Too bad if you don’t like the Orioles’ logos. Orioles fans love them.
PS: the “traditional” bird, as you call it, dates back to the team’s third decade. Not really traditional after all.
The cartoon bird started in 1966, almost 30 years earlier. The cartoon bird is more traditional than the new-jack ornithologically correct Oriole.
Their silent offseason makes a lot more sense
Maybe NOW they’ll spend for pitching!
Fingers crossed. New Owner Syndrome usually brings reckless spending, which would be a nice corrective from recent years.
Not sure I can think of a new ownership group in recent memory who took over a team as healthy as the Orioles. They’ve rebuilt into a winner and have almost no payroll of significance or long-term obligations.
Spending, however, might not come until after the deal is approved, and that will require the new owners to make concessions on the MASN fiasco, which in turn will then allow the Nats to be sold. MLB won’t approve the purchase until the contract is renegotiated. Not that the Angelos family will care about it as they head out the door.
Example other than Steve Cohen
Example of what? Increased spending? Certainly the Dodgers ramped up payroll and haven’t looked back.
Fine by me, I am so, so, SO sick of updates on MUH HECKIN’ MASN DISPUTE. Years and years and YEARS of updates.
I just want it to be over lol.
I’m curious what will happen to MASN, but I doubt there’s much there to hold up the deal at this point. Also, it’s worth remembering that the Orioles and MASN are not the same company. This sale may very well *not* include MASN. I haven’t seen reporting one way or another on it.
MASN, the Nats, and Orioles have already settled the dispute on rights for 2012-2017. Further, it was reported back in December that the next set of years has been agreed to (IIRC, 2017-2021–might be 2022). The last handful of years remains to be settled and that will happen quickly just like 2017-2021 did.
I won’t predict what’s next for MASN especially as we see the sport moving away from the regional model slightly. But the “mess” is a lot smaller than it used to be, and doubtful there’s much that will impact the deal going forward. Those are details that I suspect were ironed out a long time ago in this negotiation.
Lord – Jeff Loria took over a 2002 Marlins team with the 6th-lowest payroll in MLB.
The following year, still with the 6th-lowest payroll, the young Marlins team won the World Series.
FSG have been great owners for the Sox, at least until the last couple years where they’ve stopped competing for some reason, but they have been in the past
No one cares about MASN anymore. RSN are ending left and right. Nationals should be happy they are getting as much TV money as they do,
It’s become a non issue. Rights fees have gone to nothing these days.
lf – Yeah and Tupperware was once a great company to invest in, at least until the last couple years when the share price has crashed to nearly zero.
But all you care about is the distant past, so you’re gonna continue to invest in them …. right?
If they make concessions on MASN, wouldn’t that lower the Orioles revenue?
I get so tired of the fans who want to get a Snell. His asking price is over 250M. The Orioles have put the money they haven’t spent on overpriced FA into rebuilding the framework of the team. The new Dominican academy is an example. Build the talent, develope these kids. Ellis stick to your plan.
The last Orioles Cy winner was a guy name Steve Stone. I think he was the first pitcher in the FA era who had the nifty idea of putting all of his arm in his platform year, sign a big contract and cash the checks. That is exactly who Snell is. He gonna take the money and show up at ST and be injured by March 15th.
To be honest, I’d bet it hasn’t been a factor in the work of Mike Elias. This team was never signing a Montgomery or Snell to begin with and I doubt they’d jump into that end of the pool even if the sale had already gone through. I still think they believe it’s all about collecting and producing top prospects and trading them for established talent on deals that are aging and within a couple years of running out.
That’s honestly idiotic.
Why would any team operate that way if they had the resources to do otherwise. Why would Mike Elias arbitrarily decide to be cheap without budgetary constraints? Do you think he just likes running drafts? Doesn’t even want to win?
You think he’s invested blood, sweat, tears and years of his life into this team because he’s excited not to pay any of the players he drafted and trade them away for nothing and perpetually rebuild?
Sorry to come at you but this is honestly one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard.
You seriously think that the Orioles revenue has changed just because a new group is buying them?
As you put it, that is honestly idiotic.
The revenue hasn’t increased, but what percentage of revenue they spend certainly can increase. New owners can also invest in multiple areas to increase revenue too.
Yup, with the way the MLB is run these days they’ll be coming in focused on real estate and tax breaks.
Well it does if youre the Angelos. If you were anybody else and people were discussing giving you 1.5B for 30 years that were 90% futility youd maybe spend 20-30 million just to say thank you.
Wow indeed! Interesting to see what the timeline is and how that may affect payroll (both free agent acquisitions and contract extensions)
Well let’s hope this will lead to bigger and better things…
dm, the O’s did win 101 games last year after all. Bigger and better as in 110 wins? 120?
ALDS/ALCS/World Series – those are better than a 110 win season
luc – Yep, the 2001 Mariners are remembered more for losing the ALCS in 5 games than winning 116.
I think what DM means is that the Orioles will finally have more money put into them besides Angelo’s pocket change. Orioles are currently second to last in payroll at $80 million. 2023 season they were second to last with $71 million. ***They made it to 101 wins and playoffs with $71 million and a core of rookies.*** Those guys have TALENT. If the owner had half as much passion as the players did they’d have a dynasty by now. Hopefully that changes and they can finally start one.
I’m sure you O’s fans are happy
“Over the moon” is probably a bit more precise.
The new owners could up the payroll and this Orioles team could the beast of the east for years to come. Great news!!
A sale would Complicated with the MASN situation.
I hope this clears those things up so Leonsis can buy the Nats
Rubinstein and Leonsis are friends, right?
Yes, they’re friends. Rubenstein was part of the Leonsis bid to buy the Nats.
I hope their good relationship will ease the MASN deadlock, but Rubenstein will not easily surrender the Nats broadcast rights that MLB inexplicably surrendered to Baltimore in perpetuity.
the explanation is that a team was forced into a market and split the market share, the remediation to that was selling the rights.
Rubenstein and partner will have no choice if they want to own the Orioles. MLB will not approve a final sale until the MASN situation is fixed. As I noted above, it’s also impacting the sale of the Nats. The sale of two teams hang in the balance.
It’s a good thing for Baltimore that Washington looked the other way when the St. Louis Browns moved to Charm City.
The Nats instantly swallowed a large chunk of the Orioles’ market, which DC had been for decades. Peter could have fought back against the move and potentially prevented the Expos from moving there, but the sharing broadcast revenue thing was the compromise that got him to stay out of the way. It was, and is, fair.
At least in theory.
I suspect that settling the dispute will be a requirement to complete the sale and the new arrangement will be much more to Nats fans’ liking and I am okay with that to get rid of the Angelos family.
They encroached on an existing market and cut it in half. If not more. The league should’ve never approved that in the first place and they wouldn’t have without massive concessions.
Just be happy the arrangement isn’t permanent.
You’re delusional.
1) It’s totally absurd to consider DC part of a small market like Baltimore.
2) Angelos hasn’t lived up to the ridiculous deal anyway, and it should be abrogated on those grounds alone.
3) Angelo’s’ hostility to DC regaining its own team cost the O’s a great deal of support from former O’s fans in the area such as myself.
4) Angelos didn’t seriously field a decent team until he had the Nats to compete with. O”s fans should be on their knees tearfully hugging Nats fans in thanks.
5) Congrats to O’s fans for the eventual departure of the Angeloses. I hope they support their own team enough to keep it in Baltimore on their own, as they should have all along. Rubenstein is no spring chicken. Who knows what will happen to the team after he goes, too.
The lack of control over their own broadcast rights — and artificially low payout — is why the Nats will likely be sold to a group that will move the franchise to Nashville or Portland.
Bud Selig’s act of appeasement will almost certainly cost DC its MLB club for a third (and final) time.
1) the market was the DMV when the Nats moved in… that’s why they’re watching the O’s in Wedding Crashers, a DC/MD set movie
3/4) if you were seriously a previous O’s fan, you would have known Angelos fielded successful O’s teams in the mid-90s well before the Nats were around
In 1954 Baltimore was not a big part of the DC/Nationals market. Also, no Radio/TV/Cable/RSN crossover. No easy commute for fans to go to games from Baltimore – no Beltways, no interstate, just the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.
Calvin Griffith (Washington owner) was easily convinced not to object to the St Louis Browns move to Baltimore. Baltimore’s largest investor, Jerold Hoffberger, president of the National Brewing Company helped quell any objections of Washington Senators owner Calvin Griffith, who held a potential veto given his team’s proximity to Baltimore, suggesting the brewery sponsor the Senators on radio and television. SO GRIFFITH ALSO GOT THE BEST DEAL HE COULD AT THE TIME. He didn’t just “look the other way”, he also had his hand out.
Flash forward to 2005 Expos moving to Washington. TV and Cable are huge. Probably 1/3 of the O’s fans are from the DC suburbs/Northern VA. Orioles face an existential crisis losing the DC market. That’s why Angelos played hardball over the move and the MASN deal.
And if you look at attendance figures, even when the O’s have made the playoffs, they have never drawn more than 2.4 MM (2014) since the Nationals showed up. O’s average annual attendance 2000-2004 was 2.85MM (with bad teams), dropped to 2.04MM during 2005-2011 (also with bad teams). Looks like Angelos was right.
@drewnats
Wow, you’re onto something there. Too bad the Senators didn’t have a time machine to understand the value of future TV and regional sports network broadcast rights.
In other news, it’s a shame the Native Americans didn’t have access to that same machine to help them realize the impact of those colonist’s arrival to their way of life.
literally 2 or 3 seasons right after he bought the team and then they were garbage for well over a decade and were good another two or three seasons and were terrible for another decade, they were absolutely garbage for most of his ownership and by the time the nats came around they were terrible, your argument is a red herring, the few years they were good does not make up for the decades of being terrible
@ drewexpos33 — I guess it was the same as when The Baltimore Orioles looked the other way when the Senators came to Washington DC.
Or when Baltimore city looked the other way when DC became a city.
Second sons/cities always will be second.
@ dclvejazz — “Angelo’s’ hostility to DC regaining its own team cost the O’s a great deal of support from former O’s fans in the area such as myself.”
Lmao. You were never a fan.
You’re probably 20y.o. or under to have such an incomplete and false take on the Orioles.
Anybody who was a fan of the Orioles (which you weren’t) would know better.
Enjoy watching the Orioles for next decade playing postseason ball while your Expos struggle to be not last with the Marlins in the NL East.
Washington actively blocked the movement of any team to Baltimore. Only when all MLB owners strong armed Senators’ owner Clark Griffith to approve the move so they could rid themselves of Bill Veeck did he acquiesce. You are ignorant of baseball history, drewnats33. And that is typical of new-jack Nats fans.
We don’t want a mediocre owner like Leonsis. He should stick to Hockey and basketball.
It may not. Part of the MASN situation was that Angelos and Lerner were take-no-prisoners style of negotiators in their lives before baseball, as lawyer and commercial developer. It looks like the new guys are neither.
I don’t think talks would have reached this point without MLB throwing in their two cents and some guarantees from the owners that the Nats-O’s thing will go away in very short order.
There’s no complications. Just give the Nats their freedom and when they realize no one is paying for rights anymore they will regret it.
Good
Yes.
Oh joyous day!
Jealous
Red Sox fans
Why are you jealous? Your owner ended a 86 yr curse with 4 championships. New England fans have really gotten spoiled in the last 20 years and now expect it to never end.
Can’t argue against the 4 rings, but since DD left, ownership has directed attention and resources to the other entities of FSG. Homegrown stars are unceremoniously departed and when they finally did extend Devers, it smelled heavy of too-little-too-late.
The biggest MLB expenditure of recent years has been the shell of Trevor Story (full health again though!).
This ownership has been on cruise control with all the goodwill they built up. Yes, the fanbase could be called spoiled, but there’s nothing wrong w expecting a winning chance every year. Henry needs to move on.
They have the third rated farm system in baseball and many prospects are close to the majors. I think the upcoming years after this one will be good for Red Sox fans again.
idiotic
Mets – The team with the 3rd-highest revenue in MLB and among the highest ticket prices in MLB has finished in last place 6 out of the past 12 seasons including 3 out of the past 4 while their ownership has reduced payroll down to 13th and is currently it’s lowest in a decade.
And their ownership has made it abundantly clear winning is not a priority, increasing profits by reducing payroll is the priority.
So damn straight Sox fans are pissed, and they have every right to be.
get in line, pal. Red Sox fans belong about what, 27th in line?
You’re worse than the Rangers fan the other day calling his FO ‘annoying’
Dodgers should have acquired them too just for posterity
Purchase payment would have been Deferred until oblivion
“The Baltimore Orioles, presented by the Los Angeles Dodgers” is probably not the worst team name I have ever heard.
It still beats the “Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim”.
That goes all the way back to 1988.
Juan Bell, Brian Holton and a minor leaguer for Eddie Murray.
seems like the Manny “trade” already proved that the Dodgers own the Orioles. this year, they made it very clear that they also own the rest of the MLB.
Is John Henry looking to do the same with the Red Sox……I know Tom Werner says no….but!!!! you never know!
C’mon, you know we’re not that lucky!
You folks got 4 World Series wins out of Henry—that’s not bad. And we Yankees fans have….Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone
This is hilariously rich coming from a Yankees fan. But point still taken. That’s four rings more than a lot of other teams.
At least you guys are trying. Even though you will finish in 4th anyways
Fenway – I think it’s very likely Tampa finishes 4th …. and the sportsbooks have the Yankees winning the division.
Picking the Rays to come in 4th. now that’s a hot take. Tampa defies all predictions and apparently dropped the “Devil” part of their name so people wouldn’t talk about how they sold their souls to the Devil to flummox the prognosticators annually.
Aren’t the Yankees predicted to win the division every year. 4th is more fair than first. Tampa will get 2nd
lol the Yankees will be first as that’s where the public money will flow in.
The sharps won’t be on that nonsense
Fenway – I could be wrong because I don’t do predictions, but I thought the Orioles were favored last year and the Jays were favored before that.
Mike – Those 4 trophies came before Henry went 100% corporate, with Redbird Capital buying $750M worth of ownership and FSG buying the Penguins and looking to buy an NBA and NFL team while also embarking on a multi-billion dollar development project around Fenway.
It will never be the same as long as Henry owns the team, the Red Sox and specifically Fenway are nothing more than an ATM machine to fund other investments and line the many owners’ pockets.
They have the third rated farm system in baseball. Because you have no patience doesn’t mean they gave up.
I get it. One thing the Steinbrenners have given Yankee fans over the last half century (wow, ridiculous) is a sense the generally they want to win. Hal is more profit-oriented than George wasm but he will still spend, and you don’t see attention drawn to other endeavors. I’d like to win more. I’d like to see the farm develop more. I’d like to see (far) fewer trades for older, injury prone players. But I do think ownership wants to win.
Mets – You know what means even less than farm system ratings that BTW are vastly different depending on who is doing the ranking?
Prospects that you expect to turn into stars, let alone solid MLB players, which BTW only about 5% actually live up to the hype.
How did your “patience” work out waiting for Harvey, Thor, deGrom, Matz and Wheeler to win you a championship? What a joke, a fan preaching “patience” when their team since 2001 has won zero championships and made only one WS appearance.
Just as good as Pulsipher, Isringhausen and Wilson eh?
Only sucker fans accept years of losing because they think a class of prospects will eventually save the day 5 years down the road.
oh great. more boohooing from Boston and the Bronx. Yanks have as many titles as my team’s had home playoff games the last 20 years.
SHUT UP
Orioles magic
Hello Nashville!
Nah, Orioles are staying put. Nashville will get an expansion team along with either Salt Lake City or Portland
Rubenstein is from Baltimore. And lives in MD. They ain’t movin’
Nah, Peter’s wife and John’s mom, Georgia Angelos, would probably disown John if he sold it to someone who was going to move the team because of how much the city of Baltimore meant to Ol’ Pete, plus MLB would never approve it anyway. Plus David Rubenstein is a Baltimore boy himself.
The Orioles moving is a meme and a dead one at that.
Theo, you are a moron. And keep proving it. MLB owners will not allow a move out of Baltimore.
Damn! Right when John was going to show us the books
How dare you bring that up on National Croissant Day? HOW DARE YOU!
Sorry.”I’m out of touch”
@Dread Pirate Roberts
Well played.
If they pivot and get Montgomery I will be miserable
Na na na na
Na na na na
Hey hey hey
Goodbye
Sell the A’s!
Even if the A’s were sold they ain’t staying in Oakland.
Yes they would
If they are sold to Joe Lacob they would stay. At Howard Terminal.
Well that’s bad – everyone in the AL East
All the cheap owner talk should stop anyway.
How is Puck News the 1st to break this announcement??
They missed by a letter. I think it was supposed to start with an F.
Someone about to buy a dynasty.
THANK GOD!!!
Great family.
Now the Orioles are my mortal enemy.
y tho
Because new owners assuming bringing in cash flow and load up the roster even more, turning them into East Coast Dodgers (Juggernaut)…which will make it exceedingly more difficult for my Mariners to beat them.
Fair enough lol. I guess I can’t blame you, with even a mid-tier payroll, the Orioles should be a big friggin’ problem for everybody else in the AL for at least the next half-decade.
God I hope this is true
IT’S HAPPENING
AAAAAAAAAAAA
HALLELUJAH
Finally. And couldn’t of happened at a better time. Hope this means we at least have a chance of seeing guys like Gunnar long term
Amen, brother.
Gunnar’s agent is Scott Boras … as is Jackson Holliday’s. So, no long term deals there, unless they’re an overpay to take them right to free agency.
Probably, but there have been some Boras guys who have signed early career extensions, so it will be nice to have an ownership group that probably gives it the old college try just in case.
Yes-Bregman extended probably around end of Elias time in Houston.
Holliday isn’t even in the majors yet and you are talking extension?
You don’t know for sure Jonesy. Agents work for players. If Gunnar wants to sign long-term, Boras will negotiate a deal. It’s not that his clients have never entered into pre-FA contract extensions.
Doubt that Holliday will do so, considering his father is worth $150MM or so.
Bout’ time
Crack open a Natty Bo.
Ain’t the beer cold, hon?
It is everything a great beer should be
Fantastic news for Orioles fans!
Great news for all of you Orioles fans. Congratulations!
As an Orioles fan, I could cry tears of joy. This was a much needed boost after the Ravens loss.
Yeah, what happened to Lamar?…he choked in a big game again. Still going to be MVP though. Thought Balt would dominate. Tired of KC.
I am really looking forward to seeing Patrick Mahomes in more commercials.
Yeah he definitely doesn’t get enough exposure. Especially with that blonde girl they are always showing up in the sky-box, I mean, what’s that all about?
9ers are gonna make her cry.
The Traylor gonna break down shortly after that.
Then Kelce will dump her. She will write a new song about breakups and heartbreak. $90milion more in the bank. Rinse & repeat.
They probably will get married.
“Always showing” the blonde girl equates to @ 30 seconds per 3 1/2 hour game.
Smart to wait until they started winning to sell. Sit on the team while rebuilding and not spending anything on salary and getting out before the new young core starts getting expensive. Brilliant business maneuver, but horrible practice for the league as a whole. Both tanking and bringing in new money to an already built team. In a perfect world, new money would come into the bad teams to enable them to get better more quickly instead.
Would it be fair to say the fans were played for suckers?
Yeah, but that is true for most teams as well. It’s not an isolated incident.
Smarter to wait just a couple years more, maybe win a playoff series or two, and then pull the trigger. I would imagine the value of the team is going to spike here in a few….
I disagree. It will take a year or two for the sale to go through more than likely. Most of the O’s young guys can be controlled pre-arb in that time. And at this moment you can sell the Orioles on the potential of that occurring, no matter whether it actually happens or not. If they wait to sell, what happens if things don’t work out as planned like with Detroit?
Payroll will never be more empty. Fight w/ the sib was probably going to be long and ugly. Angelos is already hated. Probably wanted to go race some horses
I thought the timing all had to do with the health of the Old Man. No other ulterior strategy.
With billionaires, there is ALWAYS an ulterior strategy. They have so many advisors that they hear virtually every likely scenario regarding ANY decision. Especially decisions this big.
It’s impossible to like hiflew
Good for O’s fans!
Hopefully for everyone, the owners of the RedSox, the A’s, the Cardinals, the Marlins, and the Angels will follow, along with the Indians. (I just can’t call them the Guardi….).
How many World Series have the cardinals and red sox won since the turn of the century. I think their owners are doing just fine.
They are being cheap and cautious when they need to be aggressive.
The Cardinals just signed three starting pitchers this offseason. And they have not traded Arenado or Goldschmidt despite there being a good market for both. How are they being cheap and cautious again?
Interesting how many posters confuse spending with winning. How much one spends is far less important than how you spend. In 2023, the top three payrolls were less successful than the bottom three payrolls (239 wins to 250 wins) even though the bottom three included the As.
How many World Series have the cardinals and red sox won since the turn of the century.
========================
As dominant as they’ve been, the other two teams he mentioned also won a WS. Since 2002, 22 years, the teams he mentioned have won 36% of all WSC.
Talk about getting an opinion 100% wrong.
I’m not talking about 2011 or 2018. That was then. Wake up! We are talking about 2024 here. Smoke another one. I am referring to their lateral moves. Other than Sonny Gray, nothing special to talk about for either team.
One losing season and the Cardinals need a new owner? Good grief. 1st World problems!
Lol
Great news for Baltimore baseball!
Well, I was wrong, and I’m ecstatic. Thought for sure they’d wait until he died to avoid the capital gains taxes.
I’m sure it’s been a real struggle financially for Mrs. Angelos…
Inheritence taxes would cost much more. Better to give the money to heirs before you die as a gift so they don’t lose half of it.
You may want to double check that hiflew. The team is held by a trust.
The article was updated. That’s exactly what they’re doing. Waiting until he dies to transfer control.
Free at last.
Hurray!
It’s a shame for this year and possibly next because they have so many good young players but for the long term is such a blessing for the fan base
When it’s all set in stone, How much does Adley get with an extension? 8/240? More? Less?
So they can’t resign Gunner and Holiday and the other top tier talent they have. After buying out his 3 arbitration years your really talking about a 5/200 million contract for a
Catcher.
They can’t force anyone to retire. 5/200 is more aav than 8/240. Do you really think he’s gonna get $40mil aav?
You do. You want to replace his three arbitration years for 30 mil a year.
Probably doesn’t get extended. Catchers have short careers. And he isn’t that young.
He’s 25 and in the prime of his career.
Elias is probably too smart to sign a 26 year old catcher to an 8 year contract when he’ll be transforming into a light-hitting 1B by year 5.
Stanton and Co., please do the same with the Mariners
Same with the white Sox and angels.
Hopefully,an Obama group goes for it. What I have been hearing
The article clearly stats the buyers.
WOOO HOOO!!!
Congratulations to Orioles fans, whose team will now be owned by David Rubenstein of the Illuminati and Mike Arougheti of Ares Management Corp.
Seriously, this is a good day for O’s fans. Now, as a Yankee fan I can’t say I’m overjoyed, but as a baseball fan I always feel better for fans of other teams when bad owners head out the door. That’s why I was rooting for Arte to actually sell the Angels a year back.
Angels fans still hoping Arte sells the team sooner than later..
Yes, Absolutely. At least the O’s took the painful path of tanking and doing a proper rebuild. Arte just can’t seem to embrace that direction. Of course, the Angelos family did this with the full intent to raise the value of the team to sell it. In that sense, smart move.
If they had really been trying to lose (tanking) instead of rebuilding and sucking, they would not have competed in 2020. That team was 14-14 and 20-21, finishing 25-35, .417. They would have garnered a higher draft pick if they had been purposefully losing.
The absolute best thing that could happen for the Orioles fans.
Bless Baltimore and baseball.
Yay!!!!!!!!!!!
I’ll be very interested to see the details of this sale.
As a Nats fan, I don’t hold out much hope that this will help the Nats. Rubenstein and Arguheti aren’t stupid. Tying the two teams TV rights together significantly helps the Orioles because Baltimore’s a smaller market. As recently as 2022, an unnamed O’s team executive told the Washington Post that without tying their rights to the Nats and the larger DC market they didn’t think they could sell their TV rights for anywhere near the $60 million both teams earned that year. The RSN market is much worse than it was two years ago. Regardless how good the team is, nobody’s paying $60 million a year for rights in a small market.
Just to set the record straight. So the $60MM figure for 2022 is not accurate. The negotiation for 2022-2026 has not been reported as finalized. As reported in the Baltimore Banner (Dec 15, 2023), the O’s and Nats did reach a settlement for the 2017-2021 MASN years, as follows:
2017: $64.97 million
2018: $68.72 million
2019: $70.79 million
2020: $26.76 million
2021: $72.83 million
The oft-quoted figure of $60MM or $61MM is the average payout for the 5 year period (2017-2021), but remember 2020 was a short season. BTW The Nats had asked for an average of $108.6 million per year, supporting your point.
Source – Daniel Wallach, a gaming law and sports betting attorney in Hallandale Beach, Florida, and co-founding director of the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law’s Sports Wagering and Integrity Program, reported about the agreement on X, formerly known as Twitter. He’s also a legal analyst for The Athletic.
Not paying that for the Nats either. I am guessing MASN will end and teams both get $20 million a year from Amazon.
According to USA today, the new owners are only buying 40% right now and will purchase the remaining part of the team once Peter Angelos dies.
I’ll be interested in seeing if it plays out this way, because it makes a lot more sense financially for the Angelos family.
I wonder if it will be an agreed upon price that’s set now? It Angelos lives another five years, the value of the organization will have increased.
The price will not be changng in the future,
FWIW, Andy Kostka at the Baltimore Banner (a beat writer with legitimate history and sources) agrees with this. thebaltimorebanner.com/sports/orioles-mlb/baltimor…
That’s awesome that Cal Ripken Jr will be part of the ownership group
@Os1995
Great pick up in the USA Today article about the 40% sale until the passing of Peter.
This is a good read.
usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/orioles/2024/01/30/b…
It could be for inheritance tax purposes. The family will make more money if they wait until Peter’s passing for the full sale to complete. That said, it sounds as if Rubenstein will have immediate control on decision making. Well, immediate maybe some time this summer. The deal will need to be approved.
Interesting. Does this indicate the State of Maryland has given the Orioles rights to developing the land around OPACY? If not, I’m surprised the Angelos family is selling now.
Reportedly, there’s an out clause in the new 30-year lease if the state doesn’t give them approval to develop around the stadium within the next 15 years. There hasn’t been any reported movement on that issue since the O’s and the state announced the new lease.
Yes. There is an out clause. I believe that if the State doesn’t grant land rights to Os by 2027, Angelos family can cut lease term in half?
Hip hip hooray
Cap gains on 1.5 billion (rounded)?
Only on 600 million. USA Today reported that the new ownership group will purchase 40% now and the final 60% once Peter Angelos passes
Good for O’s fans. They deserve this.
Thank goodness. Let’s hope they move the team to New York and rename them the Highlanders. That would be the best thing for MLB.
THERE IS JOY IN MUDVILLE ONCE AGAIN!
First rule of business: sign rutchman and gunnar to extensions. Then Sign a pitcher. Use the prospects at trade deadline to trade for a need. Let’s see how desperate white Sox will be then to move cease.
Why settle for Cease? Find a pitcher who can throw at least 6 innings regularly.
Orioles fans everywhere are thrilled. This is the best signing we could have imagined.
Not to throw cold water on it though, I was always under the impression that the actual timing of any possible sale was the passing of Peter Angelos for estate tax reasons. I suppose it’s all those years of not having nice things, but I fear this might be a protracted sale process. Like how the lease was going to be signed “really soon”.
The USA Today reported the new ownership group will buy 40% up front then the remaining 60% when Peter Angelos passes.
Have you been to Camden yards? So many good memories there, still an awesome place to catch a game. With that young core and more on the way, has to be one of the most attractive teams for a billionaire to buy.
Bad news for the rest of the AL east….
Or whatever division the Orioles are in. I expect a realignment when expansion happens.
Three divisions in each league is idiotic. Of course MLB did it because “it worked so well in the NFL.”
MLB should return to two divisions per league: division winners get the bye to a 7-game DS while the four wildcards would be the best records among non-winners. That would nearly ensure the best teams would go to postseason instead of near .500 clubs getting berths because their division sucks.
As a White Sox fan, let me just say how envious I am right now.
Very, very envious.
The day Jerry sells will be the greatest day in white Sox history and hopefully the white Sox have a dynasty. Look what happen to the Blackhawks after Dollar Bill sold it to his son.
The day will come.
@hyrax
Sorry, we feel your pain. I wish that fans for the White Sox as well as teams like the A’s can be set free. It’s like ownership has kidnapped your heart.
@MacGromit, that’s well said. And he bought the team the year I was born, so I’ve never had an owner’s joy and devotion and basic intelligence help my favorite team.
But enough about that. I am happy for O’s fans because I know this has been a long time coming for you.
Sorry, buddy. At least you play in the AL Central?
@King, that’s only emboldened Reinsdorf to spend less. I don’t think he wants to be last, but avoiding the cellar in the ALC can usually be done on the cheap.
Tigers
David Rubenstein Is good friends with both Joe Maddon and Jason McCloud.
Hopefully both of them will have roles.
Would make sense. I believe Coach Madden is like a mentor to Coach Hyde.
O’s fans showin’ their Oh-face.
Yes.
In a group text last night I wrote, “I think I just came.”
Cal is part of the group, according to the Banner.
twitter.com/afkostka/status/1752489047337963787
It’s the perfect time. They just won the east and they have a bunch of guys that aren’t getting paid real money for years.
Congrats, Orioles fans! Baseball is better without owners who don’t care.
How sad for Peter.
Wow!!
I’m kinda freaking out…is this really happening?!!?!
Unlike many/some/most I appreciate the Angelos Family. The Orioles are in the state their in Because of the Angelos family, not in spite. Thanks you Angelos family. Not saying they are perfect, nobody is, but it was a job well done B- ownership era.
…but now…I hope it’s as good as the last couple years in Baltimore!
Now do the Rockies.
Congrats. I’d love to see a new owner.
Thanks man, and may Arte’s reign also be near its end.
Man, if Rubenstein loosens the purse strings for Mike Elias and ramps payroll up to the top 15ish, the Orioles are potentially set up to be a friggin’ dynasty. We’re already so stacked with young talent that will be cheap for awhile and our payroll is presently bottom 3.
It’s kind of crazy actually.
@King Floch
Can be the Jeff Luhnow built Astros minus the scandal. It’ll still be tough though. Have to respect our division mates more so than what the ALW has pumped out for most of the ‘stros run up here.
Maybe China will buy the Orioles.
huh?
City of Baltimore plays The Edwin Hawkins Singers “Oh Happy Day” on an endless loop.
YES!!!!!!!!!
As a Baltimore sports fan, this more than makes up for the Ravens losing.
Peter’s wife is named George?
Georgia
Private equity huh? So is the plan to buy the team, spin it off as a separate company, make them rent out Camden Yards at exorbitant rent, charge the fans $110 for beer, and then strip the team for parts?
That’s not how concession contracts work.
It’s good for baseball when the Orioles are doing well. Glad to hear that this is happening.
More to the point, it’s good for baseball when any team other than the Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox or Mets are doing well. But I get it.
Hey O’s fans…careful what you wish for….
BOOO!!!
HISS!!!!
The wicked witch is dead!
Yea!
Long live the good witch!
Aw heck. Watch Peter live to 105 years old…..
lp
It won’t matter. New owners will take control of operations once MLB approves the sale.
“Previous reports have indicated the family would incur significant capital gains taxes if they sell the franchise in its entirety before Peter Angelos’ death.”
Cool, I’d hate to see the children of the ultra rich have to pay taxes on the money they worked so hard for just so some greedy poor kids can eat.
“about 10 times what they purchased it for”. Inflation renders this comment pointless
Even without inflation, that number is not nearly as impressive as it seems at face value. That is roughly an 8% annual return. That’s probably a little worse than the S&P 500 over the last 30 years.
8% annual return for 30 years is nothing to sniff at. A pro sports franchise is one of the safest places to park a few billion dollars.
gvo
“A pro sports franchise is one of the safest places to park a few billion dollars.”
Because they are super profitable.
Don’t believe when owners cry poor
Are they going to open the Books?
Who cares?
Finally! Glad to see John has clearly been reading all my posts on here.
David Rubenstein (and Herbert Walker Bush) of the Carlyle Group. Yup, the same bunch that gutted and destroyed the US Savings and Loan operations way back when.
Called freedom, buddy.
Give us Liberty and Give us Death
Great writeup!
Great to see rich people sell something at a massive profit and pay less taxes than I pay on my social security income
Previous reports have indicated the family would incur significant capital gains taxes if they sell the franchise in its entirety before Peter Angelos’ death.
I live here. I’m crying tears of joy right now and I don’t have fireworks to launch off my roof, so I’ll just settle for the gunshots coming from West Baltimore right now.
CONGRATS, BALTIMORE!!!!!
Great news for fans of the Orioles. The young talent they have with motivated new ownership is a great combination. The rest of the East is worried.
Mike Arougheti is a real nice guy, congratulationst to him and the Oriole fans.
World’s largest military industrial complex investor and 3rd largest student loan holder and the guy whose private equaity firm is driving up RE prices across the US will own the Orioles. So will the players get tanks, expensive RE, or college degrees?
Sell them tank loans, mortgages, and finance degrees for post-retirement and internships with free vesting stock options at the Carlyle Group of course.
40% is less than half so Angelos will still be the majority owner and John Angelos would have to keep being the team’s control person by MLB rules until Peter Angelos dies.
How do Orioles fans feel about that?
Incorrect Angelo’s did not own 100% of the orioles I believe it was only 70% so 40% would make him the majority owner.
The group led by Rubenstein is not buying 40% of what Peter Angelos owns. Rubenstein and his group are buying 40% of the team as a whole and all but 10% of that is from other minority partners including the estate of Tom Clancy, CLancy’s former wife Wanda King, Barry Levinson, and the estate of Harvey Meyerhoff.
When Peter Angelos dies, his family can then sell the rest of the team without paying capital gains tax. If they sell more than $173 million of their interest now, they will be paying 25.75% of everything they receive over $173 million in capital gains taxes alone.
Not how it works. New owners will have controlling interest as soon as MLB approves the sale. Clearly, you didn’t do your homework before posting this falsehood.
Maybe go look at the new article on this website. It’s exactly how it is working. The deal will not be completed until Peter Angelos dies.
The new owners will be in control as soon as MLB approves the sale. They will have 40% to the Angelos’ 30%. Guess you didn’t read about the deal or just don’t comprehend well.
Angelos will NOT be the majority owner and John Angelos WILL NOT BE the team’s control person by MLB rules until Peter Angelos dies. ftfy!
Imagine being such a family of weasels that you sell a beloved sports team and the entire fanbase cheers. Happy Day for O’s fans. Too bad it didnt happen sooner in the offseason but it isn’t too late to sign Montgomery!
congrats O’s fans, this seems like great news, I was born and raised in Maryland and have lived here all my life, but the Orioles and their ownership were so terrible most of that time that I couldn’t be an Orioles fan, plus I was always more drawn to the history of the Sox and Fenway and loved mo Vaughn so I became a Sox fan at about 10, and haven’t looked back but I have always been nearby observing the O’s and what Angelos has turned that once great franchise into should be a crime, glad to see they finally turned it around last season and occasionally had a good team but most of the Angelos reign has been shameful, O’s fans must be super happy
As a White Sox fan. I’m so jealous right now. Congratulations
nytimes.com/2023/04/28/opinion/private-equity.html
How a poor fella can make it rich and become a local hero
My brother called me this morning to tell me and I did a happy jig for a half hour thinking finally the team might spend a little money.
Then I read the actual reports.
What I found out during the rest of the day is the Angelos will still own 60% of the team so until Peter Angelos dies the team will still be under John Angelos control.
Then I died inside a little bit.
False: new owners will have controlling interest the moment MLB approves the sale.
Time to reincarnate.
Some headlines just tell you that the comments will be filled with the yellers, screamers, know-it-alls, and tantrum tossers. This was one of those headlines and the local rabble did not disappoint!
huh?
Announce Montgomery to the Orioles …. Now
H A L L E U J A H !!! Start fazing out the puke owners in mlb. The 1s who pocket there luxury tax subsidies n put out inferior product @fans expense. Reno Athletics next !
New owners.. might move the team to another state?
Never happen.
No the new owner is from Baltimore and still lives in Maryland. Not to mention the team just signed a new lease to stay in Baltimore for at least 15 years.
Not how MLB works. MLB would not allow a move out of Baltimore.
Why can’t the A’s do this.
Now maybe the pirate owner, nutter butter Nutting sells the pirates
To another Nutter Butter?
Significant Capital gains????? 15%!! these billionaires are hilarious, They don’t even try to hide their greed.
Great for the Orioles. This last family ownership was a train wreck.
Not as bad as having Eli Jacobs as owner. The Williams era sucked too after that WS win; they spent of FAs but made bad decisions and ignored the farm.
We’re not selling… We’re not selling… We’re selling
Reports point to Vince McMahon being a top bidder.
Just going to state the obvious here, for those that need it
“Ourand reports the sale price will be $1.725 billion, about 10 times the $173MM for which the Angelos family purchased it in 1993.”
This means the team is expected to make A LOT of money,
Ownership absolutely has money to invest in the team (I mean, they can spend a lot on players).
Will they be moving too seems very possible now imo
Not for at least 15 years. Probably not even then.
The new owner grew up in Baltimore and still lives in Maryland. The Orioles aren’t being moved by the new owner.
@ Chicks dig — The Angelos family has repeatedly, over decades, done things to bind the Orioles to Baltimore Maryland; ownership stakes went to locals only, OPACY was extended Before being sold.
Any local fan has zero concerns about the team moving.
And the new owner…was a young boy when the Orioles came to Baltimore again in 1954. He watched his local team win 3 WS by the time he was 30.
Deep love might not accurately reflect the new owners total commitment to the Baltimore Orioles.
It’s impossible, @Chicks. MLB would never allow it.
Nice. Now spend money and become a threat in the american league for years.
This is great.
Good news for baseball, now do John Fisher.
Hopefully, the new owners will know their limitations and hire smart baseball people to run the team. A lot of these real estate groups who buy sports teams try to run the team themselves. Just look at Tepper with the Carolina Panthers.
No matter who buys, they’ll claim to be a poverty-striken group that can’t afford to finance a stadium or even maintain the one they have, but they’ll be experts on obtaining a subsidy. Such a sacrifice, owning a major sports team.
Wowwww they are turning things around why would they want to sell??
I think they turned things around to get maximum price on the sale.
The David Rubinstein effect?