San Diego Padres Ownership News
Bill Center and Brian Schrotenboer of the San Diego Union Tribune updated us on the formerly unidenified ownership
groups in the mix for the purchase of the San Diego Padres. Peter O’Malley’s group was already known. Additional know groups had previously been eliminated. Yet, reports indicated there were a total of three groups that had met current owner, John Moores minimum purchase price of $800 million.
Gary Jabara, a mobile communications owner out of Orange County, is one of the bidders involved. Steve Kaplan, an investor, is the other interested party.
According to the two Union Tribune reporters, “Jabara is the founder and CEO of Mobilitie, which invests in cell towers, fiber networks and antennae systems for wireless phones and communications. He previously was a partner at Deloitte & Touche and oversaw the firm’s wireless real estate and infrastructure.”
Kaplan is a portfolio manager for an investment firm.
The bids for the team have not been made public, but most expect the club to get between $600 and $800 million when it is all said and done. As of now, John Moores is simply waiting for the sale to go through. It seems his stake in the team’s success going forward has been long-since pulled up and put away. He wants out.
The O’Malley group has been in the running all along. Peter O’Malley, son of former Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley, brought professional golfer Phil Mickleson on board as the front man for the group. It’s unclear what Mickleson’s financial stake would be if the group does buy the team.
While the Padres may have just completed a sweep of the Seattle Mariners – their first sweep of any team this year – they have been struggling to keep their record from being worst in the league all year long. They have been hit hard with injuries, and many of their veteran players have started slow or simply failed to perform. None of this seems to be of concern for any of the three ownership groups interested in the team. The Padres are profitable, and they have a new television contract in place with Fox Sports.
For more on the Padres, be sure to check out Chicken Friars.