Diamondbacks considering selling minority share of franchise

With the Nationals and Angels possibly being sold within the coming months, the Diamondbacks could also be making a portion of their franchise available. According to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, DBacks managing general partner Ken Kendrick is weighing the possibility of “selling a significant, but still minority share” of the team.

Kendrick is reportedly waiting until after the Angels’ sale is finalized to further explore the possibility of selling the minority stake.  This would seem to suggest that Kendrick might reach out to Angels bidders who fall short in their quest for full ownership of the Halos, as such a bidder (particularly one based in Southern California) might have interest in gaining another foothold in an MLB ownership group with a D’Backs club that is just a short flight away from the greater Los Angeles area.

Majority control of the Diamondbacks is owned by a four-person investment group that took over the club in 2004 from initial majority owner Jerry Colangelo.  Kendrick is the managing general partner of the four-person group and acts as the public face of the group as well as MLB’s designated control person for the D’Backs franchise.  The exact breakdown of the franchise’s minority owners isn’t known, though the team told The Athletic’s Zach Buchanan in April 2020 that “around 10” minority partners. That came after a push by Kendrick to consolidate the Diamondbacks’ number of minority partners, which led to a lawsuit filed against the organization by three of the minority owners.

This latest effort to find a new minority owner could be part of Kendrick’s same consolidation plan. Also, given how the sale is still only a consideration and possibly contingent on what happens with the Angels, it doesn’t necessarily mean that Kendrick’s group might view selling a minority share as the first step in selling the D’Backs as a whole.  That said, buying a minority share in a team can be a path to a larger change in ownership.  Back in June, the Guardians finalized a sale of roughly 25-30% of the team to David Blitzer, and the deal reportedly contains a clause that would allow Blitzer to buy a majority stake in the Cleveland franchise in 2028.

Forbes Magazine approximated the Diamondbacks as being worth $1.38 billion in their most recent (March 2022) listings of Major League Baseball franchise values.  The most recent teams sold were the Mets ($2.4 billion) and Royals ($1 billion) in 2020, though it can be expected that the Nationals and Angels will continue to drive those numbers upwards.  There has been speculation that it will take over $2 billion to buy the Nats, while the Angels might be able to clear the Mets’ total or perhaps even get closer to $3 billion.

During the Winter Meetings, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said that the league hoped to have the Angels’ sale completed by Opening Day, though there hasn’t been any particular news on that front.  Nightengale writes that the Opening Day deadline doesn’t seem likely, and that interested parties are still being allowed to bid — just this past week, Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob said he was also considering bidding on the Angels.  As such, it could be some time yet before that deal is done, which gives the Diamondbacks more time to monitor the situation.