The Kansas City Royals could soon have a new owner, according to reports, and current owner David Glass could soon be more than $900 million richer.
Jeff Passan of ESPN reports that Glass is negotiating a sale of the team for more than $1 billion to John Sherman, a K.C.-area businessman who has an ownership stake in the Cleveland Indians. According to Passan’s report, Sherman would sell his interest in the Indians to become owner of the Royals.
Glass, who turns 84 next month, is a former CEO of Walmart. He bought the team for $96 million in 2000, so he’d be cashing out for quite a bit more. And that’s despite not a ton of success on the field. The Royals won a World Series in the Glass era, but finished above .500 only four times, making the postseason twice but losing more than 100 games fives times.
Forbes’ most recent valuation of MLB teams had the Royals worth $1.025 billion. But the last MLB team that sold was the Miami Marlins, who are not exactly the hottest commodity, and they sold for $1.2 billion despite being valued at $1 billion by Forbes.
The news of a possible sale was first reported by Ken Rosenthal and Jayson Stark of The Athletic, who have more on Sherman’s business deal with the Indians:
Sherman became a minority investor with the Indians in 2016 and later increased his share in the team by an unspecified amount, according to published reports. Paul Dolan, the Indians’ chairman and CEO, has said he considers Sherman his partner.
The purchase of any club is subject to approval of the major-league owners.
The highlight of Glass’ ownership of the Royals is the 2015 World Series win over the Mets. They’re rebuilding now, having won just 46 games so far this season, so this could be another fresh start for the team.
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