The Seidler family’s sale of the Padres franchise is nearing a conclusion, reports Dennis Lin of The Athletic. Four finalist groups of bidders remain in the mix, and the sale price could approach a record $3.5 billion, per the report.
A sale of the franchise has been in the works since November. At the time, chairman John Seidler announced that his family had “decided to begin a process of evaluating our future with the Padres, including a potential sale of the franchise.” As of February, five bidding groups were in the mix. That’s down to four, with Lin listing a quartet of groups led by Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores, Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob, and a pair of English Premier League owners: José E. Feliciano (Chelsea) and Dan Friedkin (Everton). The identities of all four lead investors in those bidding groups were already known, but it’s notable that there are still four strong bidders with existing interests in professional sports teams.
Padres ownership has been in a tumultuous state for more than two years now. Late owner Peter Seidler, who had an aggressive willingness to spend, passed away in November of 2023. His brother, John, was eventually approved by the league’s other owners as the team’s new control person, but not before some legal in-fighting among the family.
Peter’s widow, Sheel Seidler, sued two of her brothers-in-law, Matt and Bob Seidler, alleging that they had breached fiduciary duty and committed fraud as successors of their late brother’s trust. Sheel Seidler accused Matt and Bob of selling assets to themselves at “far” below-market prices as they attempted to consolidate control of the franchise. Matt vehemently denied the allegations in a formal statement, wherein he accused Sheel of “manufacturing claims” against other trustees in an effort to secure control of the franchise herself. Sheel Seidler’s suit was largely settled outside of court back in February, paving the way for the family to accelerate efforts to sell the team.
Anything north of $2.4 billion would set a new record for the largest sale of a franchise in MLB history. Steve Cohen’s $2.4 billion purchase of the Mets from the Wilpon family back in 2020 currently stands as the all-time record. Forbes ($1.9 billion) and Sportico ($2.3 billion) have pegged the Padres’ estimated franchise value considerably south of the $3.5 billion sum referenced by Lin, though the San Diego Union-Tribune reported back in February that the Seidler family was likely to seek a price far greater than those valuations in order to sell the club.
Peter Seidler was a great owner, and it’s a shame he left us so soon. Can only hope the new ownership group is worthy of the fans’ loyalty.
I hope they don’t ever have plans to replace Petco Park. Outside of Wrigley that’s my favorite park to visit. Which isn’t often but it’s such a great park.
I feel bad for guys like Seidler and Ilitch who did things right by the teams, right by the fans, but despite having some success and staying competitive, never got to experience the ultimate prize.
Unfortunately with the current disparity in the sport, there is only so far they can go. But those owners do their best, I agree, unlike several others. Also the Pads have great attendance and the Tigers went in with the Red Wings on a new TV deal.
It’s worth what the market says. Teams don’t go on the market very often, these groups will pay more for the chance.
From my understanding, the Pistons guy partly owns the football team that pays rent to Stan Kronke. Locals won’t be too fond of someone that is in bed with a scumbag like Dean Spanos.
On the flip side, if he’s trying to usurp Spanos Inc. then he automatically has my respect!
Go Pads 💛🤎💛🤎
Pads fans may have to hear Feliz Navidad on the PA system a lot. 🤣
Hell, we’ll chant Feliciano Navidad 5 times a game if he just keeps the ball rolling…!
When Cohen bought the Mets in 2020, I believe that he already owned 4% of the team from the Wilpons’ 2011-12 sale of 4% shares of the team to 12 investors (including Bill Maher). The Wilpons retain 5% of the team, so Cohen bought an additional 91%. What I’ve never heard is whether $2.4 billion is what he paid, which would mean the team was valued at $2.55 billion in 2020, or the full value of the team based on what he paid to buy an additional 91%. It’s not a big difference and still pales in comparison to $3.5 billion