The Pohlad family’s attempts to sell the Twins hit a major roadblock last month. Justin and Mat Ishbia, who had seemed to be the frontrunners, withdrew from the process to increase Justin Ishbia’s minority stake in the White Sox.
When the Ishbia brothers were still in the mix, the Pohlad family was reportedly hoping to have a sale completed by Opening Day. LaVelle E. Neal III of the Minnesota Star-Tribune writes that hope of settling on a buyer by Opening Day is no longer on the table. Neal speculates that a mid-late summer timeline for a deal could be more realistic.
Neal writes that he still anticipates the Pohlads will find a buyer. Dan Hayes of The Athletic wrote in the immediate aftermath of the Ishbia withdrawal that the Pohlads could consider taking the franchise off the market if they didn’t find a suitable asking price. To be clear, the Star-Tribune report isn’t refuting that. Rather, Neal writes that the Pohlads are receiving sufficient interest to believe that they’ll eventually find what they deem to be an acceptable bid.
The identities of those bidders aren’t known. The Ishbias were the only publicly reported suitor, though reports have long suggested they weren’t the only interested party. Forbes estimates the franchise’s value around $1.46 billion; Sportico’s projection is approximately $1.7 billion. The Orioles, the most recent franchise sold, went for a $1.725 billion purchase price in January 2024.
5 dollah
Old man Pohlad paid a whopping $44 million for the club about 40 years ago.
The kids came out ok on that investment
Sounds like you’re saying over 40 years they made less than 10% annually on their investment. Owning the team wasn’t as great of an investment as it sounds.
Rumor is the “winner” will pay the purchase price in nickels.
Elon musk is gonna swoop in here…
His first press conference with his team he will be screaming YES and then giving the team the stormtrooper salute
Everyone would love it!
With all the money DOGE is saving the taxpayer, could the Fed use that money to buy the Twins?
What’s it like to be a landlord and having someone live rent free in your head?
To read the reader comments in this section – as well as some editorializing in the articles – one would think that MLB owners have nothing to do but lay on the beach all day with while revenue is coming into their coffers so fast that they need to rent time on a quantum computer to keep track of all of it….and of course it’s not like they have to do any work or have any potential liabilities.
3-4 years ago the Angles were up for sale for well over a year. Think of it: the California Orange County franchise with one of the most wealthy demographics in America. Yet the owner took the team off the market because – according to the MLB Commissioner – Arte so loved to be an MLB owner. Talk about spin.
What was so interesting about the Angels was that they’re a large market team. Because of the miniscule revenue-sharing agreements in MLB, only large market teams are truly attractive to potential buyers. They can buy the better players, and eat bad contracts which is difficult for mid-market teams and impossible for small market teams.
The latest delusional narrative is that the Rays better work out something with the local government to agree on a new park, or said Commissioner will force a sale….with the condition that the franchise must stay in Florida. Sure. Look, there was a hurricane. If there was insurance it only covered so much of the losses in the area. The team doesn’t bring in enough revenue to fix the Trop to play in for a few years while a new park is being built, and the local governments don’t have the money to rebuild devastated areas cause by the hurricane. The last hope – the federal government – has a deficit so large that just to pay interest on the loan each year is more than the defense budget, so they’re not going to print yet more money to solve the situation.
Which brings us to the Twins. Who knows…..perhaps the owners were reading the American sports media or listening to the players union tell them how much they can sell their franchise for. So they put up the For Sale sign and waited for the prospects outbidding one another to purchase such a lucrative investment.
Reality struck.
Poor billionaires. Stop crying for them, each MLB team pools 48% of their revenue and makes well over $200 million a year from that and MLB profits before a ticket or cable subscription is ever sold. Plus most of target field was paid for by taxpayers and they want to continue the tax even after the bonds are paid off to fund future renovations. Certain owners refuse to spend not because they don’t have the revenue but because they love to keep the profits.
Pan Cyan Trip;
Right. You’re too financially knowledgeable for me.
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Whoops…..I forgot…….
And a few years ago the Nationals were up for sale. They didn’t get their price, and that franchise was taken off the market.
The Nationals play in DC. The surrounding counties that make up their market have the highest individual income in America according to IRS statistics. The area produces nothing that’s productive. And up until the last few months, next to no government workers were laid-off or fired. So tell me Warren Buffett-wannabe, why wouldn’t investors buy the Nationals franchise….or the Angels…..and why is the Twins sale being held up?
Samuel—ALL readers’ comments are editorializing. The are all giving their opinions. And, FYI, the owners LIE on the beach.
Can Arte sell next? Please?
Can the twins be sold to Target and become the dodgers but worse where they do what Guggenheim does with the investments