I am promising myself I’m going to limit myself to one post today, after three straight multi-post days thanks to things that keep happening, what’s the deal with this world anyway? So, hmm, let’s see, so much to choose from, but gotta go with the anonymously sourced story in the nation’s worst newspaper about everybody’s favorite owner assclown:
Billionaire Oakland A’s owner John Fisher is looking to cash in on the team’s move to Las Vegas by selling off a minority stake that values the franchise at $2 billion — a whopping 66% increase from its most recent valuation, The Post has learned.
Fisher — an heir to The Gap clothing empire co-founded by his parents, Donald and Doris Fisher — plans to start shopping a 25% chunk of the team with a price tag of $500 million in the coming days, two sources close to the situation told The Post.
That’s the New York Post, which doesn’t even capitalize the “The” on its own paper, but does when referring to itself, I guess, because that’s what fancy people do. The $500 million price tag isn’t new news — Fisher himself said it back in March, back when he was waxing poetic about spherical armadillos — but the share of the team a buyer would get in exchange appears to — oh, no, wait, that was reported by the Los Angeles Times last November. No hints at all from the Post about who passed along this information, though the only possible options would seem to be either an Athletics employee or maybe someone with whatever company is being hired to negotiate the sale, either of whom could clearly have lots of ulterior motives for leaking this information to the one newspaper that is guaranteed to run with an “exclusive” without asking too many questions.
On the surface, it makes sense for Fisher to try to raise $500 million toward the $1.15 billion he still needs for his new Las Vegas stadium by selling a quarter of the team: Can’t get if you don’t ask. Whether it makes any sense for anyone to buy 25% of the A’s at that price is another story, given that 1) the team is set to play the next three years in a minor-league stadium before moving to MLB’s smallest market and being saddled with hundreds of millions of dollars in stadium debt, 2) the Baltimore Orioles, who have none of those drawbacks, just sold for a total valuation of just $1.725 million, and 3) whoever ends up with a minority share would have to deal with a majority owner who is John Fisher. The prospectus on this sale is going to have to say “For sale: share of MLB franchise, as-is, serious bidders only, comes with existing roommate” — and while it’s always possible some billionaire will bite in hopes of being able to leverage their slice into majority ownership once Fisher drops an anvil on his own head, it doesn’t seem likely.
Or to put it more succinctly:
Meanwhile over at SI, which isn’t doing much better than the Post these days but which does still have a handful of good human writers remaining, Jason Burke observes:
The one person that could even potentially value the A’s at $2 billion isn’t in Las Vegas, and isn’t interested in becoming a minority shareholder in the franchise. That person would be Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob. It has been reported that he has a standing offer to buy the A’s from John Fisher, though what that price is set at is unknown. If that price is close to $2 billion, it would be have to be tantalizing for Fisher to get the post-ballpark valuation as a sale price without having to build the actual ballpark first.
He’s not wrong! As Burke acknowledges, there’s no guarantee Fisher will see it that way, but a sale of the whole team, to someone in a market bigger than Las Vegas, does seem to make the most sense financially. He concludes:
Something is going on with this Las Vegas deal, and it sure doesn’t appear that it’s smooth sailing at this point. What if the re-report of the A’s valuation was a negotiation tactic done by Fisher/MLB for someone attempting to actually buy the team behind the scenes? It’s not too often that the A’s end up in the NY Post, which could mean that MLB was involved in this report getting out there.
Too many people are reassuring the public that everything is just fine for everything to be just fine. This feels more like a last ditch effort to get the funding lined up before either Fisher digs into his own pockets for the first time, or finally decides to sell the team.
That’s speculation, absolutely. But it’s speculation with at least as much information behind it as the Post’s “exclusive.” Maybe I should be giving more credit to SI — sorry, I mean The SI. When there’s no good information out there, informed guesswork is sometimes the best journalism possible.
Two thoughts: 1) With the Sox and the Twins also coming up for sale, the owners are publicly colluding to set a new price floor around $2 billion. They are a cartel!
2) If Fisher does sell, it won’t be belabored in the media like Reinsdorf with the White Sox. Much like selling 50% of the Coliseum to AASEG, there will simply be an announcement that the transaction is happening. Fisher can’t have enjoyed his time in the public spotlight that he had spent so long studiously avoiding. If he does finally come to his senses and decide this all isn’t worth it, he’s going to want to scurry back to cloistered anonymity as quickly as he can.
Tom Gores on line 1?
Does Tom Gores have any money left? He bought 25% of the Chargers as well. I guess he’s doing better than I thought
Gores paid $750 million for 27% of the Chargers, who are valued by Forbes at $5.1 billion. Fisher is looking for $500 million for 25% of the A’s, who are valued by Forbes at $1.2 billion. Forbes’ team value numbers are far from definitive, but that’s quite the gap.
Given that the Orioles only sold for $1.75B I’d be interested in how Fisher thinks the A’s are worth 15% more than the Orioles and there are at least two other teams being actively shopped around I’d tend to think this is a buyers market not a sellers market. But then again if you don’t ask you won’t get something you want.
Wait, do I spot a pun in there? :)
Anyone considering (or even pondering) any kind of partnership with a buffoon like Fisher would do well to discuss prospects with Mr. Wolff.
No-one knows better than he what being a minority partner to Fisher’s incompetent whims is like.
If the value of the team was $1.3Bn in an old stadium in Oakland (with 35,000 usable and sellable seats) and a discouraged but extant fan base, what is the value of the team in a 10,000 seat minor league stadium in a city of around 2m?
He ain’t in Vegas yet.
I would put the current encumbered value of the Oakland A’s at around $1Bn flat, and that is heavily based on them NOT staying in Sacramento for more than 3 years – which they currently look set to definitely do. Ergo, he would have trouble selling 25% of the franchise for $200-250m, never mind $500m.
Don’t forget the Orioles also have $600 million from the state of Maryland and the rights to develop some adjacent parking lots to their stadium (which is nicely located next to the ravens stadium, effectively the orioles can build a mini ballpark village that benefits them year round).
Both the Twins and White Sox are in better financial shape then the A’s.
Fernando V. one of the best players in MLB passed away and I just wanted to let you girls/ guys/ folks know that!
He was a rookie and came on the scene and came onon big time in the early 80’s with the Dodgers. It was a school day I think(around 1980) I had heard about a star rookie pitching for L.A. and then I saw him on t.v. in the news and then later on Sports Illustrated and then in the world series.
He was a very good maybe not great pitcher during his career. He was a good player and his rookie year was awesome.
He may not be a HOF’er but he was rookie of the world in that world series and one of the best young pictures that year and awhile after. He will be remembered for starting as a rookie.
RIP
Fernando
I agree with Burke that the phony NYPost story appears to be a negotiating tactic to set an inflated valuation as a message to Lacob and/or Ranadive and/or some unnamed billionaire who really wants to own a MLB team in Vegas and has the gumption and competence to get a ballpark built there.
In Vegas, a market of 2.3 million people, a team would not be worth that much, considering that two teams with very nice ballparks — San Diego (3.3 million people) and Baltimore (2.8 million people) top out at about a $1.7 billion valuation. MLB might be hoping to find a buyer who wants to be a MLB owner badly enough to overpay.
This is how clueless Fisher is. He is basing his self-valuation based on how the value of the Raiders increased four-fold since moving to Las Vegas. News flash Johnny. The Raiders are a historical brand that plays in the most popular and profitable professional league in the United States. Second, they already had a funding plan in place and financial and negotiating assistance from their league. MLB isn’t helping Fisher financially and I doubt on the negotiation side either. Most importantly, the Raiders valuation didn’t skyrocket until you know they actually played in Las Vegas. How in the world would Fisher think he could raise $500 million for a quarter of a franchise that barely worth twice of his ask? Does he think these deep-pocketed individuals just going to take his word for it?
Fisher can’t be this stupid. I’ve said many times the man is broke and is grasping for straws to save face. He really needs to sell the team and have it return back to Oakland or move to Portland.