Oakland A’s shop stake in deal that values team at $2B: sources
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.
Before the start of the 2024 season, the small-market team was worth only $1.2 billion, according to an assessment of team valuations conducted by Forbes. Only the Florida Marlins had a lower valuation at $1 billion.
However, Fisher expects a revenue boom when the A’s move into a new, taxpayer-subsidized ballpark on the Las Vegas Strip.
“He’ll say the 45 million Vegas tourists a year are looking for attractions and many will want three hours of baseball entertainment,” Mark Rosenberg, a professor of Sports Management at the University of Michigan, told The Post.
The A’s also got the nine-acre plot to build their 33,000-seat domed stadium on the former site of the Tropicana Hotel for free in a development deal with Bally’s.
The casino giant imploded the famed home to Vegas acts like the Rat Pack and Siegried & Roy earlier this month. The land is valued at around $200 million.
It will take about three years to build to the stadium.
Fisher, whose net worth is estimated at $3.1 billion by Forbes, will chip in just $850 million toward the $1.5 billion construction tab, with Nevada lawmakers reportedly agreeing to pay $350 million. The team is expected to borrow an additional $300 million.
Major League Baseball didn’t charge Fisher a relocation fee, a rare accommodation, which could have cost $1 billion, The Post reported exclusively.
“This move looks like the second best baseball deal of the year,” Rosentraub quipped, putting it only behind the Yankees trade for Juan Soto that has helped the Bronx Bombers reach the World Series.
The A’s will play in Sacramento while waiting to move into their Vegas ballpark for the 2028 season.
Fisher is working with investment bank Galatioto Sports Partners to advise on the process of selling the minority stake, the sources said.
The A’s didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Galatioto Sports Partners declined to comment.
Fisher was mercilessly booed by fans this season for not keeping the team in Oakland, which won four World Series titles, featured several Hall of Famers including Rickey Henderson and Dennis Eckersley and made “Moneyball” famous before he bought the team for $180 million in 2005.
Two other MLB teams on the market could factor into how much Fisher is able wrangle for a stake in the A’s.
The Chicago White Sox, who broke the 1962 Mets’ futility record with worst season of all time — are considering a full sale at a $2 billion valuation. The Minnesota Twins are also seeking a buyer and are estimated to be worth between $1.5 billion and $2 billion.
