ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — The family of late San Diego Padres owner Peter Seidler is nearing a sale of the team, a person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press on Friday.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the Padres aren't commenting publicly on the process.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the imminent deal with private equity billionaire Jose E. Feliciano and his wife, Kwanza Jones. The team is expected to be sold at a valuation of $3.9 billion in a record deal for a Major League Baseball team, easily topping the approximately $2.4 billion paid by Steven Cohen for the New York Mets in 2020.
The 53-year-old Feliciano is the co-founder and managing partner of Clearlake Capital, a private equity firm based in Santa Monica, California. The firm was part of an investment group that purchased Premier League club Chelsea in 2022, with Los Angeles Dodgers minority owner Todd Boehly becoming the Blues' chairman.
Seidler's family began to explore a sale of the Padres last November, two years after the death of the popular Peter Seidler. His brother, John Seidler, has served as the Padres' chairman since then.
Peter Seidler was part of a group that bought the Padres in 2012 for $800 million, and he became the team's primary owner in 2020. He enthralled San Diego's baseball fans with his free-spending eagerness to win the Padres' first World Series, and general manager A.J. Preller built a series of exciting teams that have reached the MLB playoffs in four of the last six seasons — a first in team history — despite playing in the same division as the dominant Dodgers.
“I can't comment on (the sale),” first-year San Diego manager Craig Stammen said Friday afternoon in Anaheim before the Padres opened a series with the Los Angeles Angels. “We're excited to see what happens, and let the people that are handling that figure it out on their own.”
The Padres' potential sale price reflects their value as San Diego's only franchise in North America's four traditional major sports leagues, leading to a passionate fan base in their attractive home at downtown Petco Park. The Padres have set attendance records in each of the past three seasons, capped last season by drawing a whopping 3,437,201 fans — the second-most in the majors to the Dodgers, who play in their much larger stadium in Chavez Ravine.
The club finished last season with the majors' ninth-highest payroll at around $217 million, still down significantly from its peak under Seidler.
The current team, which arrived at Angel Stadium on an eight-game winning streak, boasts a lineup anchored by Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill — who are all signed through at least 2033 — along with closer Mason Miller, who has become the most dominant reliever in baseball.
Potential buyers also were clearly not frightened off by the Padres’ relative lack of media revenue. The team is expected to benefit immensely from any new media deal that would accompany baseball's next collective bargaining agreement.
Feliciano was born and raised in Puerto Rico before attending Princeton and Stanford. He co-founded Clearlake Capital two decades ago.
The BlueCo consortium formed to buy Chelsea also owns Strasbourg in France's Ligue 1. Chelsea has been among the Premier League's biggest spenders since Boehly and his partners took over the club, although it has yet to produce significant success.
Any sale of the Padres must be approved by 75% of MLB owners.
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